PHOENIX — Before the barbecues and the day off from school, before most of Phoenix even woke up, hundreds of young scouts and their families were already at work.
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Armed with American flags and a sense of purpose, Grand Canyon Council Scouts gathered at the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona this Memorial Day weekend to take part in a solemn Valley tradition: placing flags at the gravesites of fallen service members.
“We are setting up flags for those who have fallen during battle and those who have gone missing in battle,” said Arden Stanfield, Senior Patrol Leader for Troop 531.
Scouting Arizona Troop 531 and Pack 531 led an opening flag ceremony before spreading out across the cemetery grounds. Among those planting flags were two young girls, Charlotte and Juliette, who took the mission to heart.
“We’re taking flags and we’re planting them in the tombs that people died fighting for us and we’re saying thank you to them for fighting for our rights,” Juliette said.
Charlotte echoed that sentiment simply and powerfully: “Because people died fighting for freedom for our country.”
For Wes Stanfield, Chaplain for Troop 531, the annual event — now in its fifth year — carries deep emotional weight.
“It’s actually pretty emotional… to see the field completely blank with no flags and then toward the end of the day or a few hours, you’ll just see all these flags lined up,” he said. “It’s emotional to think how many men and women gave their lives for our country — and this is only one cemetery across our entire country.”
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The Grand Canyon Council of Scouting Arizona says the goal is to instill in young people the values of remembrance and respect — for those they never met but owe so much to. Stanfield says the experience often sparks something deeper in the scouts themselves.
“Some scouts… I think it’s that awakening of realizing that somebody was here and why are they here — and it’s because they died for our country,” he said. “So, there is a mix, a mix of emotions.”
For Juliette, that awakening was already taking shape. “I’m learning that people didn’t just die fighting one certain thing,” she said. “Some people died fighting two wars and they survived one… and died fighting one of them.”
By the time the scouts were finished, a sea of red, white and blue stretched across the cemetery — a quiet but powerful tribute that needed no words.
Stanfield said the meaning of the day goes beyond a holiday.
“I think it shows respect to our country and the duty, and honor and sacrifices these people made for our country,” he said. “We wouldn’t have the freedoms today if they had not sacrificed for it.”
For these scouts, Memorial Day isn’t just a day off, it’s a responsibility and a promise kept to those who gave everything.
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