Over 27,000 American flags honor Wisconsin fallen soldiers

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A Milwaukee veterans park was adorned Friday with the last of more than 27,000 American flags for a Memorial Day weekend tribute to every Wisconsin resident who has died in service to their country from the Civil War onward.

Volunteers finished planting the last of the 27,316 American flags for the sprawling “Field of Flags” during a Friday morning ceremony at Milwaukee’s Veterans Park, just north of the city’s War Memorial Center along Lake Michigan.

The center said in a statement that the display has one flag for every Wisconsin resident who “paid the ultimate price for freedom in service to our nation from the Civil War until today.”

“Behind each flag is a fallen hero from Wisconsin and the thousands of families and loved ones who carry on their legacy,” said Dan Buttery, President and CEO of the War Memorial Center.

Buttery said he was inspired to bring the Memorial Day weekend flag display, now in its fifth year, to Milwaukee after he witnessed a similar display of Old Glory in Boston years ago.

This year’s display has nearly twice the number of flags as last year, when 15,015 flags were displayed representing all Wisconsin residents killed in action since World War I.