MONROE, CT — American Legion Post 176 members with the help of Boy Scout Troop 62 placed nearly 700 American flags on veterans’ graves in Monroe’s six cemeteries on Sunday, May 21. Many of the graves dated back to pre-revolutionary war days.
The Boy Scouts helped locate veterans’ graves by looking for footstones and inscriptions on grave stones.
The group was also helped by finding American Legion flag holders and Grand Army of the Republic flag holders on some graves.
“We looked for any gravestones that contained ‘Connecticut Volunteers’ with various company numbers,” said Jan Larsen, adjutant of American Legion Post 176. “Many gravestones, especially in the older cemeteries like the East Village Cemetery dated to 1766, were unreadable due to moss growth and deterioration over the centuries.”
“All who helped were happy to have been able to honor our deceased veterans,” he said.
The Boy Scouts who helped were:
Orion Alexander
Alexander Butler
Rob Butler
Alex Fontana and
Chad Turtillian
Two Assistant Scoutmasters also helped:
Darrell Harris and
Ian Alexander
The Scoutmasters said this had been a meaningful endeavor and they would like to help out again next year.
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