{"id":35290,"date":"2021-05-30T15:43:13","date_gmt":"2021-05-30T15:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/05\/30\/veterans-return-to-memorial-day-traditions-as-pandemic-eases\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T07:09:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:09:04","slug":"veterans-return-to-memorial-day-traditions-as-pandemic-eases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/veterans\/2021\/05\/30\/veterans-return-to-memorial-day-traditions-as-pandemic-eases\/","title":{"rendered":"Veterans return to Memorial Day traditions as pandemic eases"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BOSTON \u2014 A pair of military vets navigate the hilly, meandering paths in a historic cemetery in Boston, searching out soldiers\u2019 graves and planting American flags in front of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About 10 miles away, scores of other vets and volunteers do the same, placing more than 37,000 small flags on the downtown Boston Common \u2014 a sea of red, white and blue meant to symbolize all the Massachusetts soldiers killed in battle since the Revolutionary War. It\u2019s an annual tradition that returns in full this year after being significantly scaled back in 2020 because of the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Boston and elsewhere, this holiday weekend will feel something closer to Memorial Days of old, as COVID-19 restrictions are fully lifted in many places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis Memorial Day almost has a different, better feeling to it,\u201d said Craig DeOld, a 50-year-old retired captain in the Army Reserve, as he took a breather from his flag duties at the Fairview Cemetery earlier this week. \u201cWe\u2019re breathing a sigh of relief that we\u2019ve overcome another struggle, but we\u2019re also now able to return to what this holiday is all about \u2014 remembering our fallen comrades.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Craig DeOld, a retired Army Captain, and commander of the Boston Police VFW, replaces flags at veteran’s graves on May 27, 2021, in the Fairview Cemetery in Boston. (Josh Reynolds\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Around the nation, Americans will be able to pay tribute to fallen troops in ways that were impossible last year, when virus restrictions were in effect in many places. It will also be a time to remember the tens of thousands of veterans who died from COVID-19 and recommit to vaccinating those who remain reluctant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Art delaCruz, a 53-year-old retired Navy commander in Los Angeles leads the Veterans Coalition for Vaccination, said his group has been encouraging inoculated veterans to volunteer at vaccine sites to dispel myths and help assuage concerns, many of which are also shared by current service members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe understand it\u2019s a personal choice, so we try to meet people where they are,\u201d said delaCruz, who is also president of Team Rubicon, a disaster-response nonprofit made up of military veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\t