Families Asked To Plant Flags At Riverside National Cemetery, Honoring The Fallen Cancels Veterans Day Events

RIVERSIDE, CA —Tens of thousands of miniature American flags will not be posted at the gravesites of the fallen this year at the Riverside National Cemetery on the weekend before Veterans Day. The annual effort was halted in 2025 due to a trickle-down effect from the federal government shutdown, organizers said Wednesday.

Honoring Our Fallen CEO Laura Herzog spoke on the decision as one not made lightly.

"Due to the ongoing government shutdown, our official flag placement ceremony at ... the cemetery will not take place," Honoring Our Fallen CEO Laura Herzog said. "This decision ... it comes after careful consideration of the significant staffing reductions and the challenges we are facing."

It is not, she stated, due to a lack of flags. "We have flags ready, and we are prepared to move forward next year."

Last year, and in years past, family members would walk the grounds of the Riverside National Cemetery, where veterans are interred. This year, the graves will not be covered in flags that inspire pride in knowing that someone who gave everything for this nation has been laid to rest there. For families, they are not just flags but a sign that they are not alone in their remembrance of loved ones. Herzog shared a message asking for all who come to place a flag in honor of your veteran, friends or loved ones.

"The cemetery remains open for this purpose," she said. "We are looking forward to resuming our flag placement activities for Memorial Day."

Traditionally, the nonprofit's volunteers, which typically include Boy Scout troops, Civil Air Patrol cadets, members of various unions and their families, former military personnel and others, deploy the weekend before Veterans Day for a four-hour walk throughout the cemetery's 900 acres -- 70 sections -- to erect the small flags, routinely reaching all of the nearly 250,000 burial plots.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' National Cemetery Administration manages Riverside National Cemetery. Its staffing levels have been cut back amid the federal furloughs that started a month ago amid congressional and Executive Office conflicts that led to the shutdown.

"While we cannot proceed with the formal event, we encourage everyone to visit the cemetery to place a flag in honor of your veteran, friends or loved ones," Herzog said. "The cemetery remains open for this purpose. The dedication to honoring our veterans is invaluable, and we appreciate your cooperation as we navigate these circumstances together."

The walks, first organized in 2012, are conducted not only on Veterans Day but also Memorial Day weekend. Both were rescinded in 2020 because of the COVID-19 lockdowns but returned in 2021.

When they first started, volunteers were able to reach only 21,000 grave sites. In 2014, organizers were able to procure enough flags and enlist a sufficient number of people to plant the Stars & Stripes next to just about all of the final resting places of individuals interred at the cemetery.

Since then, the number of volunteers has grown significantly. The cemetery is the third-largest of its kind in the nation.

Additional information is available at www.honoringourfallen.org.