Passing the Torch

For the past 63 years, my grandfather, Fred Chappelow, has led the Memorial Day tradition of planting American flags on veteran’s graves in the Maple Grove Cemetery of Brookville, Indiana. Each year, he assembles a dedicated group of volunteers made up of family members, friends, neighbors and other members of Brookville's Bernard Hurst Post #77. The process starts the week before Memorial Day when Fred divides the volunteers into teams, assigns them sections of the cemetery, and issues them boxes of flags that were carefully stored in the basement of his home.

This year, the 20 volunteers will place exactly 1000 flags on veterans' graves in the cemetery. Some of the burials date back to the Civil War. For many graves, time and weather have worn smooth their markings, making them unreadable. Over the years, Fred has recorded the names and locations of these graves in notebooks, transcribed over the decades when he and his late wife, Midge, walked through the cemetery together, adding to the list of veterans’ names and grave locations.

Fred, an Air Force veteran, credits his level of dedication to what he calls, “Recognizing and honoring those who served our country.” He describes this tradition as an observation of veterans and the sacrifices made.

This year will mark his 64th year for putting the flags out, and also his last. The boxes of flags now occupy the local American Legion building. Fred has decided to pass the torch, saying, "It's somebody else's turn." At 92 years old, he plans to continue serving as a member of Post #77’s color guard for as long as he is able.

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