ABC News 27 Covers Flowers For Heroes at the Gettysburg Installation July 4th
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Associated Press Announces Flowers for Heroes Going to Gettysburg July 4th
Gettysburg, Pa. (AP) – Gettysburg National Cemetery in Pennsylvania will be a sea of red, white and blue this July 4.
A non-profit group plans to mark the holiday by placing bouquets of flowers at thousands of graves at the historic veterans cemetery in south-central Pennsylvania.
Beginning at 7:30 a.m., representatives of Flowers for Heroes will hand out red, white and blue bouquets to visitors to place in front of the headstones. Volunteers including the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts will assist the group’s effort to mark 5,000 graves with flowers.
Flowers for Heroes sells the bouquets online, donating the proceeds to groups that support families of service members killed in the line of duty.
More than 3,500 Union soldiers are buried at Gettysburg, also known as Soldiers’ National Cemetery. Veterans from later conflicts are also buried there.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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Flowers for Heroes – July 4th Gettysburg Installation
Flowers For Heroes Places Flowers on 5K Graves at Gettysburg
GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Gettysburg National Cemetery in Pennsylvania was a sea of red, white, and blue this July 4th.
A non-profit group called Flowers for Heroes marked the holiday by placing bouquets of flowers at thousands of graves at the historic Soldiers National Cemetery in south-central Pennsylvania.
Beginning at 7:30 a.m., representatives of Flowers for Heroes handed out red, white, and blue bouquets to visitors to place in front of the headstones. Volunteers from the community as well as local Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts assisted the group’s effort to honor over 5,000 graves with flowers.
On their website, www.flowersforheroes.org, Flowers for Heroes allows people to sponsor bouquets that will be placed on the headstones at various military cemeteries around the nation. This is only part of their effort to show their support to America’s defenders. Proceeds also go towards supporting Gold Star families who often struggle because of the sacrifices their family members made protecting our country.
"I was touched by the participation of the Gettysburg community," said Flowers for Heroes founder, Russ Phillip, Jr. "The efforts of Flowers for Heroes are minimal without the support of our fellow Americans. This is crucial to reaching our goal of leaving no fallen American soldier without recognition of their sacrifices and patriotism."
More than 3,500 Union soldiers are buried at Gettysburg, also known as Soldiers’ National Cemetery. Veterans from later conflicts are also buried there.
For more information about the Flowers for Heroes organization, upcoming events, and ways to become involved, please visit www.flowersforheroes.org.
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Gettysburg Times Covers Flowers for Heroes in Gettysburg July 4th
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| FLOWERS FOR HEROES — Russ Phillip, Jr., above left, founder and CEO of Flowers for Heroes, prepares bouquets for visitors to pick up and place on the headstone of their choice at the Gettysburg National Cemetery on Independence Day. Flowers for Heroes is an organization dedicated to honoring America’s fallen heroes and their families. Above right, David Jobes of Damascus, Md., took part in the event. Jobes chose to honor an unknown soldier. |
FLOWERS FOR HEROES — Russ Phillip, Jr., above left, founder and CEO of Flowers for Heroes, prepares bouquets for visitors to pick up and place on the headstone of their choice at the Gettysburg National Cemetery on Independence Day. Flowers for Heroes is an organization dedicated to honoring America’s fallen heroes and their families. Above right, David Jobes of Damascus, Md., took part in the event. Jobes chose to honor an unknown soldier
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My Gettysburg Experience – Part One
By Russ Phillip Jr.
We began our morning at 4:30 AM. It was still dark with the sun just barely peaking out. It was time to unload the flowers and supplies we would need to honor the resting heroes. This early in the morning, the gates to the cemetery were still chained closed. This meant that the only way we were going to get in would be by climbing the fence. Midge would not jump fence without me, he was scared to go into cemetery alone. Once over fence, we were surrounded by the tranquility of the cemetery, to the point of feeling the silence of the graves. The birds that were in the background brought a reality to our footing. As the sun began to rise, I noticed Midge filling with excitement as he began to prepare for the day’s activities.
Around 6:00 AM, the sun now over the horizon, the cemetery gates opened and Midge began preparing the flowers. Volunteers from the community and local Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts saved the day when they arrived shortly after 9:00 AM. I knew we would need help from volunteers but I didn’t realize how much. We were rushed with volunteers early; boy scouts, girl scouts, their families, all there to help support Flowers for Heroes. We must have had 50 volunteers throughout the day. All were eager to help and show their patriotism as they separated flowers, created bouquets, and encouraged others to take part in this patriotic event.
As we all know, nothing ever goes as smoothly as we plan for. Some difficulties arose when our flowers were held up at customs, causing our last shipment of flowers to arrive at nearly 4:00 PM. By that time, the amount of visitors began to diminish and we all could feel our bodies tiring.
Over the next two and half hours, we were able to finish honoring the graves with another 1,000 bouquets. As the last flowers were laid upon the resting place of Pvt. John J. Baddick, I began to reflect upon the day. I couldn’t have asked for a greater group of volunteers, a more patriotic community, or a better canvas to paint the historic picture of our first event.
The day was finished; I was engulfed in a warm feeling by knowing we were able to honor some of America’s finest soldiers and bring the community a little closer while doing so.
The Flowers for Heroes team packed up our supplies and headed back to the hotel to unwind. Mission accomplished. A Job Well done. A day filled with reward, excitement, fun, laughter and a remembrance of why we were there; to honor our fallen heroes.
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My Gettysburg Experience – Part Two – More About the Experience
By Russ Phillip Jr.
The People
The town’s people that I spoke with mentioned that the town of Gettysburg is a very reserved and private town. Somehow that surprised me. I will tell you why, the military park and town are very alluring to tourists . People from all over the world come to visit the battle fields and cemetery. So, the town doesn’t have much time to be private. Second, they are all very pleasant and willing to share. One of the nicer aspects of our visit there was the rangers. They were very helpful and very friendly. My Boy Rick was the best part of our installation. He should get a metal for everything he did for us. He put up with a lot and crazy enough he didn’t have to. Thank Pal.
The environment was amazing. Flowers for Heroes was very well received. The people visiting and especially those helping wanted a guarantee that we were coming back next year. A nice feeling of appreciation and a feeling not too many people experience in their entire life time. That is sad to me…
Dove Ceremony
Two days before the event, a very exciting email dropped in my inbox. It was a local woman who wanted to help at the cemetery, but not in the manner of the other volunteers. Mary Ann Elliot from Ascending Spirits was interested in releasing a flight of doves in honor of those who rest at the Soldiers National Cemetery.
At high noon, Midge, myself, and our team walked with the crate of Doves to center of cemetery where the dedication ceremony would take place. Midge began to talk about our Flowers for Heroes and asked that I elaborate the importance of what we were there to do. I was honored to be standing at the resting place of such distinguished men, men with such courage and patriotism. Heroes.
After I spoke, a local woman by the name Jean Green stepped in front of the crowd. Her father, Charles Parker, lay just on the other side of the cemetery. She expressed some very deep emotions; she was touched that Flowers for Heroes and the Gettysburg community were able to come together to recognize the dire sacrifices our soldiers make. Her words lifted the hearts of all as she described her love for our country and those who defend our way of life.
The Press
The Associated Press arrived as we were still making the patriotic bouquets. They asked me question after question and then did a video interview, all while I was creating bouquets. It was a nice piece and I was honored to have them interested in our cause. We were the first story they covered that day, making me feel the high level of respect they had for our soldiers.
ABC got there right after the doves were released at the end of the dedication ceremony. Shoot, I would have liked for them to get film of how beautiful the doves were as they glided over the heads of the volunteers at the cemetery. However, it was such a pleasure to talk about Flowers for Heroes and our vision to change the lives of Gold Star Families. My dream is to show the families left by our fallen soldiers our gratitude of their sacrifice and make a lasting improvement to their lives.
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What’s After Gettysburg?
by Russ Phillip Jr.
If you all haven’t heard thru Radio or Television , Flowers for Heroes will be back out east in September. We will be doing similar installation in Antietam in mid September.
I expect that the installation will be totally different. The town is different, the amount of visitors is different and the cemetery is different. But what a great place. Flowers for Heroes will visit Antietam to again recognize the beginning of the creation of our country and the beginning of our existence. Antietam – the bloodiest battle known to America.
Additional events this year could range from doing Lincoln in Illinois this year to visiting Normandy. We have been approved at Normandy however, we will need additional funding to complete.
We plan on accommodating 3-4 installation per year. If the funding is available we will press on and do more. One piece of our mission is to visit all 130 veteran cemetery’s and the 100 overseas before revisiting business plan. We will leave no one behind. All of our Heroes will be decorated with flowers before I am done.
Hope to see you there.
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