Honoring Mendham Veterans - Eagle Scout Project

Eagle Scout Project Honoring Veterans

An Eagle Scout project is currently being conducted at the St. Joseph’s and Hilltop Cemeteries by Ryan Takayama, a Boy Scout in Troop 1, to honor those who have served our country. While flags are placed annually at veteran’s graves for Memorial Day, no comprehensive formal map identifying or cataloguing veterans exists. Some graves have etchings indicating one’s service, others have weathered flag holders, and a few only receive a flag if someone knows of their service. Each year, there are fewer and fewer people involved with placing the flags who know where these resting places are. The goal of this Eagle Project is to remedy that.

To date, Boy Scout volunteers in Troop 1 have catalogued over 325 veterans buried in Mendham at these two cemeteries, mapping their graves and compiling a database with their information. Using these resources, we plan to purchase and place flag holders next to each veteran’s grave. With the map and flag holders, it will be very easy to identify and honor veterans on Memorial Day, other military holidays, and even when flags are not up in the cemeteries.

A key expense in bringing this project to fruition is purchasing flag holders. We hope to purchase flag holders for the identified veterans, as well as fifty for future veterans who will be laid to rest in the coming years. The estimated cost of these flag holders is approximately $5,500. Regardless of whether flags are up in the cemeteries, these flag holders will serve to honor and remember veterans year-round. Any funds raised in excess of what is needed to purchase the flag holders will be given to this Eagle Scout Project's Beneficiary so they can continue honoring veterans. A GoFundMe site has been setup to collect donations at: www.gofundme.com/f/honoring-mendham-veterans-eagle-scout-project. Ryan Takayama is also available at mendhamvets@gmail.com for further questions or to make other donation arrangements.

Ideally, our goal is to complete this project prior to honoring our local veterans on Memorial Day, May 31, 2021.

Thank you for your help and support!