Memorial Day In Tucson: Things To Know About Flag Protocol

TUCSON, AZ — Many people commemorate Memorial Day with family picnics, barbecues and trips to the beach, but a better way to think of the three-day holiday — this year, on May 25-27 — is as a time of honor for the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. So whether you’re flying flag at half-staff to show others in Tucson that you value their sacrifice or attending any of the several services being offered, following proper protocol is important.

Here are some of the events taking place Monday:

The Air Guard will conduct Memorial Day flyovers in the Tucson area.

Two jets from the wing, based at the Tucson International Airport, will fly over these locations:

• Memorial Day Parade and Service at Tucson Estates Park, Tucson, 9 a.m.
• Memorial Day Service at East Lawn Palms, Tucson, 9:05 a.m.
• Memorial Day Service at South Lawn Cemetery, Tucson, 9:10 a.m.
• Memorial Day Service at Green Valley Mortuary, Green Valley, 9:15 a.m.
• Memorial Day Ceremony at Purple Heart Park, Tucson, 10 a.m.

The 162nd Wing conducts flyovers at Air Force-approved patriotic events, the wing said.

Evergreen Mortuary, Cemetery & Crematory in Tucson is hosting its annual Memorial Day Service, “Heroes Remembered,” on Monday, May 27, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Evergreen Memorial park at 3015 N. Oracle Road. The service will feature a Walk of Honor ceremony, invocation, a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, singing of the National Anthem, multiple readings, roll call and a wreath-laying ceremony. Councilman Richard Fimbres will also share special remarks and “Taps” will be played along with a rifle salute. Evergreen will offer a complimentary hot dog lunch for attendees.

The East Lawn Palms Mortuary & Cemetery is hosting a Memorial Day service for all veterans on Monday, May 27, beginning at 9 a.m. at 5801 E. Grant Road. VFW Post 4903 will perform a ritual ceremony, and Sons of Orpheus will perform a musical selection. Sons of the American Revolution along with Piper Tammy Simmons will present colors. There will be a rifle salute and Taps by Bulk Fuel Company Alpha Marine Reserves. the guest speaker will be U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Iavarone. Complimentary hot dogs will be served immediately following all ceremonies.

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The Funeraria Del Angel South Lawn Cemetery is hosting a Memorial Day service for all veterans on Monday, May 27, beginning at 9 a.m. at 5401 S. Park Avenue. A ritual ceremony will be presented by VFW Post 549. The Tucson Concert Band will perform. A color presentation by Davis Monthan Air Force Base with Piper William Don Carlos followed by a rifle salute by the Tucson Detachment 007 Marine Corps League. The Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 106 will have a Memorial Museum on display featuring all local fallen heroes, past and present which will be open May 25 - 27 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The guest speaker will be Antony Fennell, retired U.S. Army Colonel.

Fort Huachuca will honor America’s Veterans and salute fallen service members during its annual Memorial Day ceremony on Monday, May 27, at 11 a.m. at the Post Cemetery.

The event is free and open to members of the public who have access to Fort Huachuca. Due to limited parking at the cemetery, shuttle service will be provided from the parking lots at Christy and Shipp Avenues and Hines and Andrews Roads. Col. Chad Rambo, Fort Huachuca garrison commander, is the speaker for the event.

The Widowed Support Center, Gold Star Wives and the Society of Military Widows will dedicate wreaths to fallen service members. A member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars will read VFW General Order #1. A rifle squad from the Fort Huachuca Select Honor Guard will render the 21-gun salute. At noon, a firing battery from the Fort Huachuca Select Honor Guard will render the National Salute with five canons located on Reservoir Hill.

Flying a flag at half-staff isn’t as simple as hoisting it halfway up the flagpole. Specific guidance is found in the U.S. Code, Title 4, Chapter 1, Section 7, which instructs that any time a flag is flown at half-staff, it “should be first hoisted to the peak for an instant and then lowered to the half-staff position.” When the flag is retired for the night, it “should be again raised to the peak before it is lowered for the day.”

On Memorial Day, special protocol is observed. The flag should fly at the half-staff position until noon only, and then be raised to the top of the staff for the remainder of the day. This custom, unique to Memorial Day, honors the war dead in the morning of Memorial Day, but then the flag is raised to full-staff at noon by the living, “who resolve not to let their sacrifice be in vain, but to rise up in their stead and continue the fight for liberty and justice for all.”

The custom appears to date back to at least 1906, when an Army regulations book included instructions for the procedure. Congress made it a permanent part of the U.S. Code (Title 4, Section 6) with the proclamation: “For the nation lives, and the flag is a symbol of illustration.”

Not everyone has a flagpole. For flags that are mounted from the side of a home, window or balcony, media mogul Martha Stewart advises affixing a black crepe streamer to the staff immediately below the flag’s spearhead — the golden ball or spear-shaped ornament at the top of the staff. On a standard-sized flag, the crepe should be no wider than one foot.

In all cases, make sure flag is in pristine condition and isn’t tattered and torn, and that its red and white bars and the union (the blue field of stars) are bright and vibrant. If the flag is no longer suitable for display, dispose of it properly, preferably in a ceremonial burning. American Legion posts and other veteran groups often have flag-disposal ceremonies.

Observing proper etiquette is equally important at Memorial Day services at cemeteries and other venues. When the flag is hoisted:

• Spectators who aren’t in military uniform should face the flag, stand at attention and place their hands over their hearts.

• Those who are in uniform should give a proper military salute.
• A man who is not in uniform, but is wearing a hat, should remove it with his right hand and hold it at his left shoulder with his palm resting on his heart.
• Attendees who are not U.S. citizens should stand at attention.

When the flag advances in a moving column, it is appropriate for all persons to salute it as it passes.