War Hero's Dad Hoping To Plant 50,000 Flags At Bourne Cemetery
BOURNE (CBS) - A father's grief will soon be turned into a patriotic show of color at the National Cemetery in Bourne.
"After we buried my son there, I tried to put a flag on his marker, and I was told it wasn't allowed," said Paul Monti.
WBZ-TV's Bill Shields reports.
His son, Sgt. First Class Jared Monti, died in Afghanistan almost five years ago, in a hail of gunfire, as he was trying to save his own men. Sgt. Monti was later awarded the Medal of Honor.
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But now, Paul Monti has succeeded in changing the no-flag rule at the National Cemetery, at least for the Memorial Day weekend. He, and a handful of volunteers, will be placing 50,000 flags at the cemetery, one on every nameplate.
"Flags represent everything that we hold dear in this country...and they are reminders that a lot of people gave their lives so we can live free," said Monti.
So Saturday morning, the volunteers will show up in Bourne to start the back-breaking job of placing the small flags in the ground.
The graceful hills of the cemetery will be covered with red, white, and blue, a colorful contrast to the solid green of the grass, which can sometimes obscure the nameplates of the 47,000 people who are buried there.
