CAMDEN — Memorial Day is a day that for years has been set aside for Americans to remember all the brave men and women who ultimately gave their lives in support of our country in all the wars and conflicts.

Veterans place flags every year in advance of Memorial Day and Legion Post 30 will continue that tradition on Monday, May 19, at 1030 a.m., when they muster at Mountain View Cemetery to place American flags to honor fellow Veterans who served and died in the many wars and conflicts of the U.S. military.

Jeff Sukeforth, Post 30 Adjutant, will bring the flags, 479 for Camden’s Mountain View Cemetery and 249 for Oak Hill North and South cemeteries, to be placed by the Legion and volunteers. The Legion will also have new grave markers should replacements be needed.

A check of the Town of Camden cemetery database found Veterans graves dating back to the 1730s. Nathaniel Hosmer was born in 1730 and Peter Ott was born in 1733. Private Nathaniel Hosmer served under Captain W. Knight’s Company and Lieutenant J. Dudley’s Regiment in South Boston in 1814. Sergeant Ott served in Captain Benjamin Plumer’s Company, Captain Nicholas Crosby’s Company, Colonel Samuel McCobb’s Regiment and Captain Phillip Ulmer’s Company. He served in St. George, St. John’s Nova Scotia and participated in the Penobscot Expedition.

Post 30 is inviting members of the Camden community who may wish to join with the Legion to place flags to meet at the Mt. View cemetery adjacent to the old Chapel at 10:30 a.m., May 19. If it rains on the 15th then flags will be placed out on May 16.

It is truly a remarkable sight, seeing the flags stand proudly on the graves. It is something that needs to be seen and the meaning of why this is done, taught in the schools so future generations may ever remember these heroes.

Anyone with a Veteran loved one interred locally is requested to ensure that a flag is placed on the grave, and if there is not a flag in place, please call me, Jeff Sukeforth, at 691-2270 and let me know.