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Thousands of flags fill State Capitol garden honoring fallen Louisiana heroes

5 years 9 months 4 weeks ago Monday, May 28 2018 May 28, 2018 May 28, 2018 7:09 PM May 28, 2018 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE - On Memorial Day, thousands of flags sit in front of the State Capitol in downtown Baton Rouge. The Blue Star Mothers of Louisiana Chapter 1 is behind the display. They say the number of flags is strategic. One flag represents one Louisiana life lost in war.

“It makes you so proud that you are here and we have so many privileges,” Fran Kershaw said after seeing the flags for the first time.

Instead of the usual green grass a sea of red, white and blue crawls up the capitol, making a huge impact.

“I'm a veteran, so I understand. It’s hard not to be impressed,” said Richard Hammond. “This emphasizes that we are the United States of America, and there are people who serve and give their life for it.”

Some flags have ribbons on them, others have pictures putting a face to a fallen hero.

“It gives you a concept of how many people have been impacted,” said Michael Aguilar. “For each one of these flags it’s also an extended family, friend group, community that’s been impacted by the loss of that life.”

The stirring sight brought onlookers, dozens of families paying their respects.

“It’s truly moving, we have a son who served in the Navy so it has a special significance for us,” said Doug Vickers.

Moving, inspiring, humbling – these are how people are describing the garden of flags, which is well deserved by the ones they're waving for.

The flags will stay on display until Sunday, June 3. Blue Star Mothers of Louisiana will then hold a ceremony where Taps will be played and each flag will be cleaned.

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