Over 200,000 American flags lined the rows of graves at Fort Snelling National Cemetery on Monday as people arrived at the cemetery to remember and pay tribute to the men and women who served the United States.
Volunteers spent the day Sunday placing the flags on the graves, with thousands of people taking shifts to make the project happen.
Joanne Malmstedt founded Flags for Fort Snelling six years ago and spoke to Steve Simpson on Monday during the WCCO Radio Morning News.
"It started as a teaching moment for one of my children who I thought understood the meaning of Memorial Day, but in practicality, they saw it the same as Veteran's Day, Flag Day, and our Armed Forces Day," Malmstedt said. "I reached out to Fort Snelling National Cemetery and asked how to sign up to put out flags for Memorial Day. I was then told they no longer do it."
In 2015, Malmstedt, her kids, and a group of friends put out nearly 2,700 flags. After that, Malmstedt made the commitment to do even more and Flags for Fort Snelling became a nonprofit. In 2016, they placed about 10,000 larger flags at the cemetery.
"Currently, we're close to 200,000 flags," Malmstedt said on Monday morning. "This year, we have about 2,200 volunteers."
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And for Malmstedt, Fort Snelling is a place she holds close to her hear. Her great grandfather, who is buried at Fort Snelling, served in World War I. Malmstedt's grandfather served in World War II and her father is a Vietnam veteran.
"I have ties out here and I do have a very strong passion to support our military and armed services. I wasn't able to enlist as a sole parent to my two little children at the time, they wouldn't take me. Years and years later, this is my way of serving. This is my way of giving back and returning what I wasn't able to before."