Photos: Memorial Day flag placement at Cedar Memorial Cemetery

Volunteers placed thousands of American flags at the graves of veterans in an annual Memorial Day effort to honor service members buried at the cemetery

After volunteering to place flags, veteran Gary Van Middlesworth of Cedar Rapids bends down at the grave of a fellow veteran to clean it off at Cedar Memorial Cemetery in Cedar Rapids on Saturday, May 29, 2021. Volunteers placed 7,500 flags as a part of the annual effort honoring veterans. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

Cadet airman Maximillian Crist of the Civil Air Patrol’s 129th Cedar Rapids Composite Squadron checks headstones while looking for a veteran’s name to place a flag during a volunteer flag placement at Cedar Memorial Cemetery in Cedar Rapids on Saturday, May 29, 2021. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

Grae Kitsmiller, 8, of Hiawatha holds an American flag during a volunteer flag placement at Cedar Memorial Cemetery in Cedar Rapids on Saturday, May 29, 2021. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

Cadet airman Maximillian Crist of the Civil Air Patrol’s 129th Cedar Rapids Composite Squadron brushes clean the headstone of a veteran during a volunteer flag placement at Cedar Memorial Cemetery in Cedar Rapids on Saturday, May 29, 2021. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

Jeff Gordon of Cedar Rapids cleans up the grave of Derald and Shirlee Rasmussen and places flowers handed to him by his 23-month-old grandson Spencer Groop, visiting from Crystal Falls, Michigan, during a volunteer flag placement at Cedar Memorial Cemetery in Cedar Rapids on Saturday, May 29, 2021. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

Large American flags line the roadway as small flags are seen placed at the graves of veterans during a volunteer flag placement at Cedar Memorial Cemetery in Cedar Rapids on Saturday, May 29, 2021. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

An American flag is placed at the headstone of Private First Class George E. Leasure of Marion, a U.S. Army veteran who died in service during World War I, during a volunteer flag placement at Cedar Memorial Cemetery in Cedar Rapids on Saturday, May 29, 2021. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

Cadet airman Maximillian Crist of the Civil Air Patrol’s 129th Cedar Rapids Composite Squadron (left) prepares to place a flag as cadet master sergeant Bo Stoops makes a hole for the flag during a volunteer flag placement at Cedar Memorial Cemetery in Cedar Rapids on Saturday, May 29, 2021. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

American flags are seen placed at the graves of veterans during a volunteer flag placement at Cedar Memorial Cemetery in Cedar Rapids on Saturday, May 29, 2021. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

Members of the Civil Air Patrol’s 129th Cedar Rapids Composite Squadron place flags during a volunteer flag placement at Cedar Memorial Cemetery in Cedar Rapids on Saturday, May 29, 2021. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

Veteran Gary Van Middlesworth of Cedar Rapids cleans the grave of a fellow veteran during a volunteer flag placement at Cedar Memorial Cemetery in Cedar Rapids on Saturday, May 29, 2021. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

Cadet airman Maximillian Crist of the Civil Air Patrol’s 129th Cedar Rapids Composite Squadron looks for a veteran’s headstone to place a flag during a volunteer flag placement at Cedar Memorial Cemetery in Cedar Rapids on Saturday, May 29, 2021. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

A cross with the words, “miss you,” is seen at a grave during a volunteer flag placement at Cedar Memorial Cemetery in Cedar Rapids on Saturday, May 29, 2021. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

Brandon Groop of Crystal Falls, Michigan, carries 23-month-old Spencer to see the grave of his great-grandparents Derald and Shirlee Rasmussen during a volunteer flag placement at Cedar Memorial Cemetery in Cedar Rapids on Saturday, May 29, 2021. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

Volunteers place flags at the graves of veterans at Cedar Memorial Cemetery in Cedar Rapids on Saturday, May 29, 2021. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

A boy carries American flags while helping to place flags at the graves of veterans during a volunteer flag placement at Cedar Memorial Cemetery in Cedar Rapids on Saturday, May 29, 2021. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)