Townsend Detachment honors fallen Marines for Memorial Day

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - While many people spend their Memorial Day weekend at the beach or on the lake, a group of current and former Marines is honoring their brethren who had come before them and paid the ultimate price.

The Townsend Detachment Marines Corps League spent the weekend tracking down the gravesites of Marine veterans in Montgomery County and placing a new American Flag for remembrance.

“Those that have gone before us and served our nation, this great nation, are very cherished by all of us, not just the families,” said past Junior Commandant, Mark Barnhart.

A member of the league created a map programmed by Google Earth to mark Marine veterans’ gravesites to simplify the process. After each flag was placed, the members saluted the fallen and thanked them for their service.

Barnhart mentioned there are “a couple hundred” Marines buried in Montgomery County.

Townsend Detachment is raising money to continue to place new flags on veterans’ gravesites each year, which cost at least $4 per flag.

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