Veterans care for Veterans Memorial
By Dolores E. Pike

The tools they carry signify the work they do each week.  There are brooms, scrub brushes, wrenches, screwdrivers, putty knives (for weeding) Round up, grass seed, fertilizer and a water hose.  At times they work with a brick remover as they set newly engraved bricks in place and a hand crank to work the flags.

These implements are needed by the five-man volunteer team, headed up by Navy veteran, John Henglein, in the overall maintenance of the site of the Worcester County Veterans Memorial in Ocean Pines.  It enables them to keep the area in tiptop shape.  Each man is a veteran of one of the five branches of the U.S. Military. Al Bridgman was a captain in the Coast Guard, Jim Coyne is a retired Air Force colonel, Dave Smith is a Marine veteran and Bill Lee (a descendant of General Robert E. Lee) served in the Army.

“When I asked Bill Rakow (of the Veterans Memorial Committee) who was going to lower the flags on specific dates of the year when this is required such as Memorial Day, Nine Eleven, December 7, he did not have an answer.

He brought it up with Sharyn O’Hare and Roseann Bridgman (chairpersons of the committee) about who should do this.  They came to me and asked if I would like to be on the committee.  I was appointed maintenance committee chairman and given the responsibility for the flags and told to bring some other people on. Al Bridgman and Jim were recommended by Roseann and I selected Dave Smith,” said John Henglein.  At this point four branches of the service were represented.  It was not until a few weeks ago that Bill Lee came on board to complete the military quintet.

The weather is hard on the flags, which must be replaced every two to three months.  Whenever the wind is over 20 miles an hour, as indicated by the wind speed indicator at John’s home, two of the men lower the flags. They follow the proscribed ceremonial procedures.  The American flag is always the last to be lowered, the first to be raised and flies higher than all the others.  It is the largest of the flags, being six feet by 10 feet, and it takes two men to handle, keeping it from touching the ground, and being folded.

John likes to have the flags flying all the time, especially in the summer, but strong winds are very hard on the flags.  The memorial recently received a $2,000 grant from the Worcester County commissioners to help with replacement costs.  And whenever the flags are down the committee receives a lot of phone calls asking “Where are the flags?”

If the flags are to be flown at half-mast John receives word from the governor’s office.  

People often ask why the POW/MIA flag is not flying at all times under the American flag.  John says that it puts a lot of strain on the cable which has broken once and there is no stronger or larger cable available.  Therefore it is only flown on special occasions.

“This requires rerigging.  We have to take cables and disconnect them with wrenches and put in smaller cable pieces.  Another two-man job,” said John.

“What makes it nice once in awhile is when we have a ceremony where we can bring all five service flags down together and each one of us handles our own service,” said Al.

Each member of the team is responsible for general maintenance of the site on a weekly basis and spends between four and six hours on the job.  Cleaning up after the geese is a major chore.  Most dog owners clean up after their animals.

Though Bill Rakow is in charge of installing the bricks and pavers the team members show up to lend a hand whenever he has a large number ready to go. And then sometimes people request permission to have a small ceremony with the installation of their brick.

There are instances when people cannot find their bricks and a call is put in to Roseann or Sharon. Eventually the committee expects to have a cross-referenced chart showing the locations of all bricks and pavers, which are still available for purchase at a cost of  $75 and $150, respectively. This includes engraving, installation and maintenance.  “It’s a bargain,” says John. 

Each time Jim, who flew 130 missions in Viet Nam, drives past the memorial he is amazed at how many times you see people there. “It means a lot to people, much more than I thought it would.”

“Quite a few people have thanked me when I was over there (working at the memorial).  You get into a conversation with them and you tell them why you’re there and what you’re doing and they thank you,” added John.

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