A small American flag will stand next to each veteran's grave at Deepdale Memorial Park and Cemetery on Old Lansing Road this weekend.
The two-day task of setting out the flags is one the members of the Department of Michigan Veterans of Foreign Wars, or VFW, Post 701 in Lansing, take on each Memorial Day weekend to remember those who fought by their sides.
"(The flags) are only going on veteran graves, and it's amazing," said Vietnam War veteran Don Manker, a Post 701 member. "This isn't a military cemetery — it's a regular cemetery with that many veterans."
Manker set down his glass of beer as he talked about the weekend project he and fellow VFW Post 701, 123 N. Rosemary St., members would undertake.
"We're just remembering all our fallen veterans," he said.
Post 701 is where many local veterans gather, whether it's to wind down after a day's work or to kick back with old friends.
It also has a memorial room with small plates commemorating the members who have died.
"This board has filled up faster than the other ones," said Korean War veteran Arthur Gamelin as he pointed to the World War II memorial wall.
"Our World War II members are really dying because of their age," he said.
But despite age gaps and different war experiences, the members of VFW Post 701 function as a close-knit group, Gamelin said.
"We have fun around here, we enjoy life," he said, "No one likes to talk about it too much; they did their job, that's what they figure."
Vietnam War veteran Tom Groesbeck said Post 701 members spend a lot of time together and can relate to each other well.
"This is like a little family in here … basically we all went through the same things," Groesbeck said.
Shortly after graduating high school, Groesbeck enlisted in the Navy. He was sent to Vietnam in 1966, although his tour was cut short when he was shot in the stomach while fighting.
"I didn't feel much of anything. I probably went into total shock," Groesbeck said.
He was airlifted off the field and later brought to his battalion's base in Hawaii. Groesbeck now uses a walker as a result of the injury.
"My main hang-up over there was you never knew who you were fighting," he said.
Groesbeck said he has been a member since 1967 when his father, a World War II veteran, bought him his first year's membership.
Gulf War veteran Gary Frayer's experience is vastly different from Groesbeck's.
Frayer joined the Army in 1989, the summer after he graduated from high school.
"You are out in the middle of nowhere — you just sit and wait," Frayer said.
He said he remembers his time in Iraq as hot with sandstorm after sandstorm — and eating a lot of MREs, or Meals Ready to Eat, used by the military.
"Ours wasn't as bad as the new Iraq War," he said, "The service as a whole changes you, makes you a little more mature, gives you a little more direction in life."
