Riverside National Cemetery, California

Veterans Day 2009

In Loving Memory of

William Leo "Ole" South

13 Apr 1922  /  20 Aug 2009

The 5,000 flags put down were donated by The South Family of Bloomington, California,
Gordon and Heide South, and their daughter and her husband, Evan & Cindy Scheib.

E-Mails were sent out asking for volunteers to help place the flags.
The family wants to thank those who turned out and helped.

Once the flags were received, Gordon, Heide, and Cindy spent an
evening unpackaging the flags, separating the flags into bundles of 25,
rolling them up, banding them together, and preparing them for Veterans Day.

We would like to thank Bruce Miner for his inventive idea of creating flag placement
extenders so that individuals who were unable to bend over 5,000 times
could participate.  Construction was done by Bruce, Bryan, and Gordon
days before the event.  Thank you!

We would also like to thank those who showed up on the following Thursday to remove
all of the flags.  The flags have been cleaned and repacked for the next time.

We would also like to extend a very special thank you to Bryan Miner for his
incredible video of the flag placements.  The music coupled with the cinematography
is truly inspiring.  Thank you!

Last Update:  22 Nov 2009

Our 5,000 flags covered about 2 acres in less than two hours.  Visitors who came to place flowers, or visit loved ones in the area, drove by very slow to watch us place flags.  Some even parked their cars and watched for a bit, and some even got our of their cars, came up, and personally thanked us.  One couple, in particular, said their parents had been buried in this section for many years, and they have never seen flags here before.  They were awe-struck of how beautiful the area was now.  Many People stopped and asked if we had any extra flags they could buy.  We told them we had none for sale but they were welcomed to one for their loved one.  The flags glistened in the sun and added a even more special touch to the day.   The area before we started. 001 1 1/2 hours later. 002 We had a great crew and everybody had fun. 003 Gordon (your web master) is easy to pick out.  He rides the cart.  As the grass was quite thick, he got stuck many times and was thrown off once when the rear wheel dropped into a hole. 004 William Leo "Ole" South Gordon's last Uncle was laid  to rest with his wife Ada. 005 He is dearly missed 006 A simple tool designed by Gordon's brother Bruce to install flags without bending over each time 007 Evan Scheib 008 Later he complained about sore mussel's from bending over 009 We finally got a cup to place the flowers in. This was the first flag placed 010 011 012 013 014 Scott Hansen in the hat with the beard rode his Harley over 125 mile round trip to help.  He also rides with a group of Patriot Riders & carries toy's for tot's at Christmas among other rides his group is called for. 015 Gordon's scooter could not get into this area 016 When you look at the area we covered, a friend of Cindy's and her group placed 10,000 flags just down the road from us. 017 018 019 A very strange sight, This senior asked me for a flag, pushed his wheel chair out through thick glass, pulled down his pants and sat there. 020 Last of the National Cemetery 021 We are now at the cemetery in downtown Riverside where I placed flags on my Fathers grave along with my Grandfather who rests in peace next to him. 022 A few rows away my Grandmother rests in peace 023 Father & Son Another group of fine people placed a flag on each grave that contained a Veteran.  Go back to picture 022 and notice the scattered flags. 024 Cindy just loved the way the colors of the flag showed up on the concrete. 025 To see a short video of the flags:   Click Here "Takes a little time to load"