An American flag waves in the breeze on the grave of Stanley L. Birsall, who was in the U.S. Navy during WWII, at Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Ana on Tuesday, May 19, 2020. Members of the community are helping place more than 3,000 flags to honor veterans for Memorial Day at the park. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Matthew Keller, 11, of Orange, quietly brought his right hand to the bill of his cap, saluting a veteran’s gravesite after placing an American flag into the ground at the western edge of Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Ana on Tuesday morning, May 19.
Keller along with his two brothers, Patrick, 7, and Jeremy, 17, all members of the Boy Scouts, and their father, Rich Keller, walked through their assigned section of the cemetery, hands full of flags, looking for some of the approximately 3,000 veterans buried at Fairhaven.
The family has volunteered the past few years to place flags in preparation for Memorial Day.
Rich Keller, along with two of his sons, Patrick,7, and Matthew, 11, carry American flags as they search for veteran’s graves to place a flag on and honor them for Memorial Day at the Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Ana on Tuesday, May 19, 2020. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Janine Storm of Orange, with the Orange Elks Lodge, carries American flags as she searches for veteran’s graves to place a flag on and honor them for Memorial Day at the Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Ana on Tuesday, May 19, 2020. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Matthew Keller, 11, of Orange, salutes a veteran’s grave after place a flag at Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Ana on Tuesday, May 19, 2020. Members of the community are helping place more than 3,000 flags to honor veterans for Memorial Day. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Boy Scout Jeremy Keller, 17, of Orange, places a flag on a veteran’s grave after at Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Ana on Tuesday, May 19, 2020. Members of the community are helping place more than 3,000 flags to honor veterans for Memorial Day. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Boy Scout Jeremy Keller, 17, of Orange, salutes a veteran’s grave after placing a flag at Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Ana on Tuesday, May 19, 2020. Members of the community are helping place more than 3,000 flags to honor veterans for Memorial Day. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Mike Duff of Orange, places a flag on a veteran’s grave at Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Ana on Tuesday, May 19, 2020. Members of the community are helping place more than 3,000 flags to honor veterans for Memorial Day. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Boy Scout Jeremy Keller, 17, left, of Orange, salutes a veteran’s grave after placing a flag as his father, Rich Keller, right, looks on at Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Ana on Tuesday, May 19, 2020. Members of the community are helping place more than 3,000 flags to honor veterans for Memorial Day. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Rich Keller, along with two of his sons, Patrick,7, and Matthew, 11, carry American flags as they search for veteran’s graves to place a flag on and honor them for Memorial Day at the Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Ana on Tuesday, May 19, 2020. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Since 1978, the scouts from Troop 28 in Santa Ana have placed the flags on all of the gravesites of veterans as a service project. But with the coronavirus pandemic this year, the group gathering was canceled.
Instead, members of the community are pitching in all week to get the flags placed in a more socially distanced effort.
“Before we had a chance to reach out to the community, they were calling us saying what can we do, can we come do this,” said Cynthia Adair, with Fairhaven Memorial Park. “We heard from the Elks, the scouts and church groups. The concert band that always plays on Memorial Day, they’re out here doing it. It’s really heartwarming.”
Those interested in helping to place the flags can visit a canopy placed at the front gate from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Friday to receive an assignment of graves to honor. Masks and social distancing are required and groups should have less than five people.
This holiday weekend, Fairhaven will host a drive-thru of life-size props of historical moments and landmarks, such as the Liberty Bell and Mount Rushmore, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., including Monday.
