Community members interested in honoring a loved one who served in the U.S. military can have a flag flown in their honor on the Veterans Bridge.
As part of the Veterans Bridge Flag Initiative, a ceremony is held each Memorial Day and Veterans Day to honor the country’s service men and women. New American flags are raised on the bridge and fly alongside the five permanent flags raised in memory of the four marines and sailor killed in Chattanooga on July 16, 2015.
Mayor Andy Berke launched the Veterans Bridge Flag Initiative in May 2014 to ensure those who served the U.S. would continue to be honored. Prior to the Veterans Bridge Flag Initiative, an anonymous donor supplied the funds to replace each of the American flags hanging on Veterans Bridge – a total of about $40,000 over ten years. The city created a way to continue this tradition after being notified in 2013 that the donor could no longer continue to provide those funds.
Any group or person who wishes to honor a service man or woman can do so by donating the cost of a flag, which is $75. Honorees receive a proclamation recognizing their service to the country and announcing the pole number from which their flag flies. Flags are up for six months and switched twice a year around Veterans Day and Memorial Day.
On Veterans Day of 2015, five permanent flags were raised in memory of the five fallen servicemen killed in 2015. The flags are on poles W6, W7, W8, W9 and W10 on the west side, where there is a sidewalk.
This year’s spring Flag Raising Ceremony will take place Monday, May 22, 10:30 a.m., at the Sculpture Garden at Bluffview. Anyone interested in purchasing a flag in honor of a veteran should contact the Chattanooga Department of Transportation at (423) 643-5950.
Source: City of Chattanooga