33,000 Flags Planted on Boston Common for Memorial Day

Hundreds of volunteers carried on the tradition of creating what they call a "flag garden."

By Steve Annear· 5/23/2013, 11:25 a.m.

A garden of 33,000 flags was planted by city officials and members of the Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund this week, and will cover part of the Boston Common near the Soldiers and Sailors Monument through Memorial Day, in honor of fallen soldiers from the state.

Each flag put in the ground near the monument will represent a service member from Massachusetts who gave his or her life defending the country since the Civil War to the present day.

On Thursday, Mayor Tom Menino and Governor Deval Patrick helped plant 170 remaining flags to complete the garden, each one representing a service member that was killed in combat since September 11, 2001. Patrick and Menino joined family members of the fallen service members during the ceremony as the names of those killed in battle were read in front of a crowd.

The flag-planting has been a Memorial Day weekend tradition in Boston since 2011. This year, more than 300 volunteers helped put the flag garden together, and members of the Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund will take shifts guarding the memorial site.