Hundreds plant flags to honor fallen heroes from Massachusetts
On Friday, hundreds of people took part in the Flags for the Fallen ceremony at the Massachusetts Fallen Heroes Memorial in Boston's Seaport. The flags represent the names of each man and woman from Massachusetts who made the ultimate sacrifice.
The annual solemn ceremony was a kickoff to Patriot Week. "We have come together as a community on days like today, to plant flags in honor of all service members, but more importantly, the ones that we lost after our war in our generation," said Massachusetts Fallen Heroes Executive Director Dan Magoon.
Colleen Dugan of Scituate holds her brother's flag. Sgt. Michael Jason Kelley, 26, was killed in Afghanistan on June 8, 2005. "We are remembering him, and he is still living with us, and his sacrifice was not for nothing," Dugan said.
She said he was the first Massachusetts Army National Guardsman to be killed in Afghanistan post 9/11. "I knew that his calling was the military and was to serve and protect America and us and live for our freedoms," Dugan said.
More than 80 4th graders from the Richard J. Murphy K-8 School in Dorchester helped place the flags. Ten-year-old Gabriel Cho says he appreciated the opportunity. "We planted flags for them with their names on them. I learned that so many people died for our freedom," Cho said.
And it's moments like this that helps everyone to remember their sacrifice.
"When someone dies, they die twice," Dugan said. "The first time when they die physically but the second time is when you stop saying their name. For me and my family and for other Gold Star families especially in Massachusetts, we want to say the names to keep the memories alive."
