By Florida Catholic staff - Florida Catholic
Photographer: COURTESY PHOTO
Scouts begin to go about their annual tradition of placing individual flags on the graves of every soldier buried at Our Lady of Mercy Cemetery in Doral.
Photographer: COURTESY PHOTO
New Scouts learn the honorary salute to the graves of soldiers at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery in Doral the Saturday before Memorial Day.
MIAMI | Dressed in Boy Scout green and Cub Scout blue, the troops came out in the humid heat May 27 to place flags on the graves of veterans buried in the Catholic cemeteries.
The annual tradition was carried out at Our Lady of Mercy in Doral and Our Lady Queen of Heaven in North Lauderdale. The Scouts come every year and place hundreds of flags throughout the combined 140 acres of graves and mausoleums. This year, troops #423 and #463 in Broward, and #552 in Miami, put out about 3,000 flags combined.
"Some of these boys have been coming for years and are now young men themselves. They continue to come, respecting the true meaning of service and remembrance," said Mary Jo Frick, executive director of Catholic Cemeteries. "We thank them for their faithful service especially in 100-degree heat."
Photographer: COURTESY PHOTO
Broward Scout troops raise the flag and begin their annual tradition of placing individual flags on the graves of every soldier buried at Our Lady Queen of Heaven Cemetery in North Lauderdale.
Correction: The original version of this story said the Scouts placed flowers, rather than flags, on the veterans' graves. It also misidentified the location of the Scouts in the top photo. They were a Miami troop at Our Lady of Mercy Cemetery in Doral.
