Felix Grucci: “with Memorial Day only 12 days from today, veterans' graves are graced with our Nation's flag on Memorial Day in my…”

“with Memorial Day only 12 days from today, veterans' graves are graced with our Nation's flag on Memorial Day in my district as is customary across our Nation since the end of the Civil War. However, too often these flags are removed immediately after the Monday observation of Memorial Day, not giving the sufficient recognition deserved these fallen heroes. The original intent of Memorial Day was for it to be a time of reflection on our hard-earned freedom and to pay our respects to those men and to those women who made the ultimate sacrifice for the citizens of our Nation and gave their lives to preserve that freedom. Yet today the true meaning of Memorial Day is often lost to a sense of commercialism. For this reason, local veterans organizations within my district have partnered with one of our national cemeteries, Calverton National Cemetery, to improve the way we memorialize our fallen veterans. They leave the American flags in place until May 31 so that they fly in honor of our brave service men and women through to the original date of Decoration Day, May 30. The flag is the symbol of America's greatness and all of its compassion, perseverance and values.”