11,000 flags will fill Baton Rouge's Capitol Park's sunken garden for Memorial Day (2024)

Thousands of flags will fill Baton Rouge's Capitol Park's sunken garden for Memorial Day.

The flags will total around 11,000 once they're set out, each representing a Louisianan who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving in the U.S. military.

The stars and stripes filling the sunken garden at the center of the Louisiana State Capitol's Capitol Park is more than a visual spectacle.

"It is absolutely breathtaking," said Denise Singleton, president of the Blue Star Mothers of Louisiana, Chapter I, which coordinates the annual event.

"We've been doing this for about 10 years now," Singleton said. "Members of the Louisiana National Guard are the keepers of the flags for our fallen. They will meet around 5:30 a.m. at LSU's Memorial Tower and carry those 11,000 flags in their rucksacks to the U.S.S. Kidd."

True, the ship has been sent away for a preservation upgrade, but that won't stop the keepers of the flags from stopping at the U.S.S. Kidd Veterans Museum's Louisiana Memorial Plaza for a remembrance ceremony.

From there, the runners will make their way to North Boulevard, where they'll meet up with local Gold Star families of soldiers who lost their lives in battle.

From there, the runners head up North Fourth Street, toward the State Capitol and its gardens, arriving around 8:30 a.m. for a brief ceremony in the parking lot in front of the capitol.

"We'll say the Pledge of Allegiance and have the national anthem, and the secretary of the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs will say a few words," Singleton said.

Then comes what is probably the most honorable part of the ceremony.

"We'll call forth any Gold Star families to read or speak their loved one's name out loud as a bell is rung," Singleton said.

Meanwhile, the first flags will be planted in the sunken garden in response to those names.

At Capitol Park, the garden is level with the rest of the park where the statue of Huey P. Long stands atop the gravesite of the legendary Louisiana governor-turned-U.S. senator. The garden's elevation gradually sinks as it stretches toward the capitol building, and it's in this center space where the flags are placed.

"Once the Gold Star families say their loved ones' names, we will continue reading the names of our fallen that we've maintained from 9/11 to the present," Singleton said. "And once those 250-plus flags are planted, then we'll open it up to the public that is there."

That's when the remainder of the 11,000 flags will be placed in rows that will fill the sunken garden.

"A quality engineering and surveying company goes out there the day before to lay down a grid for us so that we've got boundaries to stay within," Singleton said. "The flags will stay up for a week. So, we'll plant them on May 25, then go back on June 1 and remove them, and we'll respectfully package them for keeping until next year."

Singleton credits the help of volunteers for the event's coming together.

Around 300 volunteers help with the flag project — both placing and picking them up. Companies including Exxon, Blue Cross-Blue Shield, Humana and AARP send volunteers, along with the Youth Challenge program.

The Blue Star Mothers of Louisiana was chartered by military mom Janet Broussard in 2005.

"We were all going through the ground war," Singleton said. "My son's been in the Marines for 25 years. He started out as a 19-year-old working in the the Marine Corps' Tank Division, and he hit the ground running with the rest of our military following 9/11. So, it was a terrible time for all of us moms, because we had nowhere to cycle our energy — and there's no military base in Baton Rouge."

That's when Broussard stepped up to form the chapter.

"God bless her soul. She is just this ball of fire," Singleton said. "She needed a way to channel that energy in a very positive way, and she, in her research, discovered Blue Star Mothers of America. She did her homework and chartered the first chapter here in Louisiana — and that was 19 years ago, this past January."

The organization proved to be a godsend for moms of military men and women overseas. Social media wasn't prevalent at the time, and chapter gave them a way to connect.

"So, we just jumped in with the idea of sending care packages to our kids and getting them phone cards, because that's what it took for them to be able to call home back then," Singleton said. "And we have grown tremendously since then. We do probably six major events every year."

Events include a Gold Star Family Luncheon, awarding five military scholarships each year, recognizing high school seniors through the chapter's Community Salutes program and laying wreaths on graves at the Baton Rouge National Cemetery at 220 N. 19th St. for Wreaths Across America.

"That is the only national cemetery in Louisiana that isn't manned," Singleton said. "The other national cemeteries have offices on the grounds, but this one doesn't. So, we take care of the wreaths for it. And we have been very fortunate to be able to raise our operating money each year through WAFB's Jacques Doucet's Red, Rock and Blue."

Red, Rock and Blue is a series of annual fundraising events benefitting Louisiana military charities. These events include a competitive softball tournament and a concert.

"We've been partnering with Jacques for the last 16 or 17 years," Singleton said. "So, we're able to raise big money and some do some really big things. This Memorial Day Garden Flags is one of them."

Once all the flags are planted, the entire stretch of the sunken garden between the Huey P. Long statue to the Capitol's parking lot will be a sea of stars and stripes. It's a sight to behold.

And one worthy of humble appreciation on Memorial Day weekend and beyond.