Just inside the iron gates of on Rochester Road in Oakland Township, 245 American flags arranged meticulously in six rows flap in the breeze.
Each of the flags represents a Michigan serviceman or woman who died as a result of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and each flagpole bears that man or woman's name, photograph, hometown and a short biography.
“We’ve done the flags for the past couple years, and the idea to add the tags with the bios on it was a collective idea," said Guardian Angel Cemetery Director Wendy Mann. “We’ve been working on it for the past couple months. It’s definitely a project.”
Mann said the Field of Honor was erected Tuesday near the silo, but heavy rain flooded the area and forced grounds crews to move the entire display to higher ground. Crews were putting the finishing touches on the patriotic display Friday afternoon.
“It’s really eye-opening when you see a photo of someone – when you see a photo of a boy, really, or a young girl – that’s on the cards that could be your neighbor or anything like that, and it’s just, to see all the cards up, it’s quite overwhelming.”
Mann said the goal of the Field of Honor is simply to pay tribute to Michigan's fallen military members.
"Look at what these people sacrificed," she said. "It’s just amazing."
It's funny you mention that because my first job was at the Taylor Daily Press in Taylor, TX and we used to cover that event.
you know in your heart that it`s citizen armed servicemen and women have always given all they have to protect mankinds freedom around the world.bless them all.