Anyone who wishes to honor a veteran by placing an American flag on his or her grave in Massillon Cemetery for Memorial Day may pick up a free 12 x18-inch flag at Massillon Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 3124, 322 North Erie Street. Use the parking lot entrance and ring the buzzer at the door for admission.

For at least 55 years, volunteers have placed approximately 1,500 flags throughout the cemetery to mark veterans' burial places, but changes in Massillon Cemetery regulations make it impossible for that tradition to continue.

VFW members, volunteers from other veterans’ organizations, and patriotic community volunteers will continue to place flags in other Western Stark County cemeteries. Including those previously placed in Massillon Cemetery, more than 5,500 flags were posted and retrieved each year, provided by the VFW.

“I’m personally crushed by this new limitation and I’m saddened that hundreds of Massillonians who served their country in wars from the nation’s earliest days forward will go unmarked this year,” said VFW 3124 Commander Terry Roan, who has overseen the project since his return from Vietnam. “The cemetery’s new stringent guidelines and the loss of the flags in 2024, when they were removed by cemetery workers, have forced us to make this difficult decision.”

The VFW will continue to pass out free flags to everyone along the Memorial Day Parade route on Monday, May 26, and line the street with American flags for that weekend. The parade will step off at 9:30 a.m. and process from Eighth Street NE to Duncan Plaza/Veterans Memorial Park, where the community’s annual Memorial Day ceremony will take place following the parade.

Anyone who wants to volunteer to distribute flags in cemeteries other than Massillon Cemetery may call Roan at 330-904-8462.