Two Winslow men have taken on an important project to ensure that every veteran buried at the Desert View Cemetery is honored. Larry Begay and Layman Brown are working to plant American flags on the gravesites of every veteran in Desert View Cemetery.
“There are 723 veterans buried here and we want to show respect to them all,” Begay said. The pair have been funding the project of planting the full sized flags on their own and recently gained attention from City Manager Steve Pauken. “We have all noticed what has been going on at the cemetery with new very prominent flags being placed at the graves of our veterans,” Pauken said. “Having noticed what he was doing, I asked him to provide us with a letter of request so that the city could help him continue in this endeavor. The recommendation to donate $5,000 is our number.” The Winslow City Council agreed and granted $5,000 to the project. Pauken explained that even with the approval of the $5,000, the project will still not be complete. “This will get them about 160 more, but there are still so many to go,” he said. He encouraged other service groups to make donations toward the project as well.
Begay said, “When I started, I was looking for my grandmother’s grave and I noticed there were a lot of veterans. My goal is to place a flag at every one of them.” Brown and Begay plan to continue the project and invite any family member of an interred veteran to be part of planting the flags. “We will punch the hole and have the family place the flag, if you would like to do that, let us know. The city would be happy to be the repository for those funds if anyone would like to make a donation, group or individual.” Begay’s contact information can be found by visiting City Hall located at 21 N. Williamson Ave. For those interested in making a donation, there has been an account opened at Bank of the West at 300 N. Williamson Ave. to help fund the project. Begay is also helping a local Vietnam Veteran to see the memorial wall in Washington, D.C., this summer.
