- February 5, 2025
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Elizabeth Strong places flags on the graves of veterans buried at Ormond Beach's Hillside Cemetery on Friday, May 18. Both her husband and her father, who are also vets, are buried here. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Donna Dienno prepares the flags to be placed on veterans' graves on Friday, May 18. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Donna Dienno and Candace Sigerson prepare the flags to place them on veterans' graves on Friday, May 18. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Barbara Wigle places a flag at the grave of a veteran at Hillside Cemetery on Friday, May 18. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Jennifer Akers, Hillside Cemetery volunteer, Sandra Rossmeyer, President of the Hillside Cemetery board, and Constance Yuschok, Hillside Cemetery board member. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
A flag was placed at World War II veteran David Derringer's grave at Hillside Cemetery on Friday, May 18. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Flags placed on veterans' graves wave in the morning breeze at Hillside Cemetery on May 18. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
The Captain James Ormond Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, along with the Hillside Cemetery board, made sure local fallen vets did not go unnoticed this Memorial Day by placing 164 flags on all the marked graves of known veterans at the historic Hillside Cemetery on Friday, May 18.
"We've toyed with it in the past, but we just didn't know exactly how to go about it," said Connie Treloar, Hillside Cemetery board member.
Thanks to the partnership between the DAR and the cemetery, this coming Memorial Day on May 28 will be the first time flags have marked the graves of veterans. The cemetery is the final resting site for vets of many wars, including the Mexican American War, the Korean War, World War I and World War II. Across the U.S., flags are placed on veterans' graves, and the DAR wanted to include Ormond Beach.
"It brings back a history to our own city of Ormond Beach," said Jennifer Akers, one of the Hillside Cemetery "angels" volunteers.
Both groups said it was important to remember these vets because of their sacrifice. Hillside Cemetery received 144 flags as a donation from a private citizen, said Hillside Cemetery Board President Sandra Rossmeyer. She expressed her thanks to the DAR's help in arranging the flags for Memorial Day.
"They died, so we're free," Hillside Cemetery Board Member Candace Sigerson said.
