On Memorial Day it isn’t only flowers blooming in the City of Fairfax. On that day each year, the city’s historic cemetery sprouts hundreds of American flags, each marking the grave of a veteran. Some might think that the city pays someone to place flags, or that maybe a legion of volunteers troop through, but no, the story is a much more touching one of love, honor and legacy and a local family whose members have served the US.
When a young army sergeant, David Morgan, returned home to the City of Fairfax from tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, he found the neighbors had lined the street with flags to welcome him home. His mother, Val Morgan, saved those flags. Several years later, in 2018, tragedy struck the Morgan family when their daughter Sara, a nurse who was also an army veteran, suddenly passed away. She was laid to rest at the City Cemetery. As Ms. Morgan tended her daughter’s grave she became friends with the wonderful city staff person, Jaimie Lindley, who takes care of the cemetery. When Memorial Day approached that year, Ms. Morgan remembered those flags she had in storage and asked Ms. Lindley for permission to use them to mark the graves of her daughter and other veterans.
It turned into a sizable, and still growing, project that Ms. Morgan has continued ever since.
Along with placing the flags, Ms. Morgan carefully trims the grass around each headstone, sweeps grass clippings that the mowers spew, and even wipes the bird droppings from the headstones.
Cemetery records did not accurately identify all veterans and so as Ms. Morgan began to locate veterans’ graves she found older graves that hadn’t been listed on the records as veterans. She also found many female veterans who had not been previously identified as veterans. Partly as a result of her efforts, the city has now identified over 370 veterans known buried in our City Cemetery. The oldest confirmed veteran is Mr. Tapley Worster from the War of 1812. Ms. Morgan has learned a lot about some of the veterans, often from the memories told to her by visiting families. She has also rescued gravestones from overgrown shrubs and helped Ms. Lindley updated the names and locations of many older graves, ensuring the city has a more accurate record going forward.
Giving each grave such care is truly a labor of dedication spanning several days before and after each Memorial and Veterans Day. Ms. Morgan reuses the flags each year but over time they wear out. The city’s American Legion Post 177 and a few other appreciative individuals have helped pay for some of the additional flags, but the honor bestowed upon the veterans at the City of Fairfax Cemetery would not be possible without the hours of volunteering and the careful care and tracking provided by Ms. Morgan.
The best reward, per Ms. Morgan, are the grateful family members who will often stop and thank her for her work. Those in the city who know Ms. Morgan know that she is an indefatigable volunteer in the community on many fronts, but this particular project of hers as a service family member touches many hearts.
