CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — This Memorial Day we remember the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military.
Friday, a group of volunteers visited the final resting place of some of our local heroes to make sure the veterans there received the honor they deserve.
“It needed to be done,” said Kevin Hedlund. “This was a forgotten cemetery and Gilbert is the one who brought it to our attention.”
Gilbert is Gilbert Gallardo, a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8932. Resting at Flour Bluff's Duncan Cemetery are plenty of veterans, and in past years, many of their graves were forgotten on Memorial Day.
“I noticed that there were a lot of veterans here,” said Gallardo. “I saw where it was neglected, no flags.”
Gallardo rallied the troops, and Friday, they were joined by other volunteers placing flag at the final resting place of fallen heroes.
Both Hedlund and Gallardo have friends who died in combat. For them, those friends are why they were there.
When asked about thinking about his fallen comrades on Memorial Day, Hedlund, a veteran of Operation Desert Storm and Somalia, got visibly emotional and tapped his chest.
“That's all I can say,” he said.
After all, it's part of their mission.
“This is one of the responsibilities of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, to honor the dead,” Gallardo said. “That's why we're here.”
The post will have a Memorial Day get-together Monday afternoon. Members will be grilling burgers for Friday's volunteers, a small reward for the huge service they performed.
