For the past 83 years an organization with a long name has made sure America's war dead in Europe have not been forgotten. The American Overseas Memorial Day Association (AOMDA) makes sure each American war grave is decorated with a small United States flag every Memorial Day.
While most fallen servicemen and women are buried in American military cemeteries, there are 183 remote burial sites throughout France. These dot the French countryside, marking spots where a U.S. soldier fell in battle or an aviator's plane crashed. This year, 25 boys from Cub Scout Pack 210 in Whiteland, Indiana, nearly 5000 miles away, helped ensure the memories of those soldiers were honored.
Scouts, with help from their parents, prepared mailing tubes that contained miniature American flags and instruction letters. Bound for France - FedEx picked up all shipping costs - the flags will then be placed by local civic organizations and French scouts.
While sticking on labels and packaging, the Whiteland Cub Scouts learned that it's their patriotic duty to recognize all Americans who lost their lives in service to our country, wherever they fell.
"There is a greater appreciation and understanding of that sacrifice when a Scout actually places his hands on a flag that will decorate a fallen soldier's grave," said Joe Moore, Pack 210's Cubmaster.
AOMDA's founders - who were Legionnaires at Paris Post I - asked the American Legion to establish a permanent endowment to cover the costs of decorating the overseas graves of the nation's soldiers, sailors and marines. Interest generated by that fund today purchases U.S. Flags to be placed at the headstones of America's war dead in Europe, from both World War I and II.