Girl Scouts plant flags at veterans’ graves during Memorial Day ceremony

About 50 girls from the Girl Scouts of Suffolk County (GSSC) honored Long Island military veterans who have made the ultimate sacrifice by planting American flags at their graves at Calverton National Cemetery in Calverton on Saturday, May 24.

The annual event sees Girl Scouts install more than 500 flags in just one section of the over-1,000-acre military cemetery, which serves as the final resting place for more than 275,000 veterans from every American conflict.

The flag installation is part of the GSSC county-wide Service Unit activities and included girls ages 5 to 16 from Mastic Beach, Shirley and Moriches.

“We place the flag, we say the names out loud, and we salute the grave,” said Olivia Phillips, 17, of Mastic. “We do it to show that we understand that sacrifice and we wouldn’t be here without them.”

The girls also earned a special “Calverton National Cemetery” patch to wear on their sashes and vests to salute their service.

“It shows how we are honoring the people who are buried here,” said Gabreilla Greco, 11, of Shirley. “If we didn’t do this, I feel like no one would, and it’s important to honor them.”

Learn more about Girl Scouts of Suffolk County at www.gssc.us.