Americans across the country paid their respects on Memorial Day. On Monday, News 5 anchor Rob Powers showed us what goes into these events honoring those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.
It's what happens behind the scenes that keeps an establishment running.
On Memorial Day, we wanted to pay tribute to the 21 full-time employees of the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery, 19 of whom are veterans — not to mention the additional team of volunteers.
It's their work behind the scenes that keeps the place alive from sunup to sundown.
This is a special place. The signs are all around.
The Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery in Medina County is the final resting place for those who served our nation.
Ribbons of asphalt slice through a velvet-mixed green canvas of Kentucky bluegrass and ryegrass, presenting a solemn background for granite markers — as of the end of April, 39,522 of them, lined up in rows, standing at attention, for those who lie beneath.
Trees and flowers surround the cemetery grounds. They're all natural to the state, as is the hint of farm life that encompasses the land — whiffs of freshly cut grass and the sounds of the wind cutting through trees, which stand guard waiting for the day to begin.
Mornings are quiet — a sprinkler churning here, a bird singing there — peaceful.
Twenty-one full-time employees wake the cemetery —19 of them are veterans. There's also a team of volunteers that make the day run smoothly — as smoothly as it can.
The American flag is lowered to half-staff every day there's a veteran burial, 30 minutes prior to the first one of the day.
On average, Monday thru Friday, there are 13 burials a day. With them come 1,000 visitors every day in peak months — those who come to pay respects, and mourners saying goodbye to heroes — theirs and ours.
Thirteen times every day, 24 familiar musical notes, every one tapping into every human emotion. Sounds that cut through everything else, replacing the sprinklers and the birds. Sounds that make this still place, just that much more — 3,200 times every year.
This is a special place. The signs are all around.
Of the 429.9 acres of land dedicated to the fighting spirit of American men and women, 90 of them are developed right now. There's plenty of room.
Room for memories, room for mourning, room for squirrels, chipmunks, groundhogs, even the occasional deer — they visit daily as well.
It's what happens behind the scenes that keep this place alive, that keeps this place a sacred national shrine.
Thirty minutes after the final burial of the day, the flag is raised once again to fly high above it all, waving every one of those 13-stripes and 50-stars so proudly.
Until all those sights and sounds and smells and people and heroes come again tomorrow — come back to the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery as another day dawns, and they'll be here.
It's a special place. The signs are all around.
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