After suspending operations a year ago because of the federal government shutdown, flag placements at Riverside National Cemetery in observance of Veterans Day will be back next month, and the call went out Tuesday for volunteers to assist in the mission.
Garden Grove-based Honoring Our Fallen confirmed Tuesday that the “Flag for Every Hero” event will proceed on Saturday, Nov. 7.
As in previous years, the organization is asking those who are able and have the time to contribute to join in the flag walk, during which the Stars & Stripes will be planted adjacent to the markers for nearly 250,000 burial plots.
Traditionally, the nonprofit’s volunteers have included Boy Scout troops, Civil Air Patrol cadets, members of various unions and their families, former military personnel and others, deploying just prior to Veterans Day for a four-hour walk throughout the cemetery’s 900 acres, comprising 70 sections in all.
This year’s outing is scheduled from 8 a.m. to noon on Nov. 7. Veterans Day is Wednesday, Nov. 11. The flags will be retrieved the day after, and volunteers will be needed then, as well.
Last November, Honoring Our Fallen CEO Laura Herzog publicly expressed regret that the tradition couldn’t be upheld, but pointed out that “significant staffing reductions” at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Cemetery Administration stemming from the weeks-long government shutdown had impacted everything from facilities maintenance to traffic control at the cemetery.
Though the VA didn’t expressly prohibit the flags operation, Honoring Our Fallen ultimately decided it wasn’t advisable.
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 Both were rescinded in 2020 because of the COVID-19 lockdowns but returned in 2021.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 over a decade ago, 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 miniature 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 honoringourfallen.org/events/veterans-day-2026-flag-placement/.