Armed Forces Day: A Thank You From Elmwood Cemetery
Liam Smith
Throughout this spring we at Elmwood have had a very full events calendar. While we keep a busy schedule every year, this year it was especially important to us to get in as many of our military-themed tours as we could before Memorial Day. Why? Well, North Brunswick Township has worked hard to have the American Veterans Traveling Tribute (AVTT) visit North Brunswick at Veterans Park from Friday, May 23 through Memorial Day, Monday, May 26. According to their press release: “The AVTT Traveling Vietnam Wall is an 80% replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. The Wall contains the names of U.S. Military personnel who lost their lives in the Vietnam War. Accompanying the Wall will be the Cost of Freedom, tributes to every U.S. military action since World War I.”
With this in mind, we at Elmwood thought it would be appropriate to highlight the stories of service found in our cemetery, and we are happy to say that as of last Saturday we held every single one of our military-themed tours this weekend. Also last Saturday, Armed Forces Day, we had volunteers come to the cemetery to replace the flags at our veterans graves. We are proud to have flags up every day of the year for our veterans, and every year, the week before Memorial Day we host this event so every veteran has a new flag for Memorial Day. So for today’s blog, I just wanted to highlight some of the work we’ve done the past few months for our veterans, as well as thank all of the volunteers who came out last weekend to help place flags at the gravesites of a portion of the over 800 veterans interred at Elmwood Cemetery.
The first military-based event that Elmwood held in 2025 was held in honor of President’s Day; specifically, in honor of President Lincoln, we held a virtual wreath laying honoring Civil War veterans of the United States Colored Troops. Then beginning in April, we held our Civil War walking tour. After that, on the first Saturday in May, we held our World War I walking tour. The week after that we held our World War II walking tour. Finally, this previous weekend, we held our Spanish-American War walking tour before our flag replacement event. Following that, we held our Korean War walking tour. I would like to thank all of the people who came out to attend our tours and remember our veterans. Of the many who came out to take our tours, some themselves were former service members, and I want to take a chance to thank them for their service.
I also want to highlight the work we did last weekend replacing flags at the cemetery ahead of Memorial Day. Elmwood Cemetery has over 215 Civil War veterans, over 25 Spanish-American War veterans, over 205 World War I veterans, over 175 World War II veterans, over 20 Korean War veterans, 14 Vietnam veterans, and 1 Afghanistan veteran, in addition to some 150 other veterans. That is a lot, to say the least. But thanks to the efforts of our volunteers, it took only a little over an hour to place a flag for every veteran in a large portion of the cemetery. If that isn’t a display of the camaraderie and teamwork our volunteers displayed, I don’t know what is. And for that reason I cannot thank those that joined us on Saturday enough. We take pride in knowing that, come Memorial Day, every veteran in this cemetery will have an unsullied flag at their grave.
I think it is only fair if I give special thanks to the many organizations who helped us in our flag-laying. Without the support of local veterans groups like the VFW and American Legion, we would have been unable to procure our replacement flags and medallions, as well as respectfully discard our damaged flags. Additionally, the former veterans who came out to volunteer their time and share their stories are greatly appreciated. I’d also like to thank the many members of the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts who came out to help place the flags. Their teamwork was essential in getting the job done, and their sense of community service was very admirable and appreciated. I would also be remiss if I didn’t thank the Women’s Club of North Brunswick, who volunteered their time and their leadership to help our volunteer groups get the task completed. And of course, for all of our other volunteers, I want to again express my deepest thanks for offering their afternoon to help honor and remember our veterans.
Finally, I again want to encourage anyone who can to visit the Traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall next weekend. Our friends at the North Brunswick Parks, Recreation & Community Services department worked very hard to procure the wall and have helped to organize multiple ceremonies, listed here:
– May 23rd @ 9:15 a.m. – Welcoming the Wall Opening Ceremony
– May 24th @ 2:00 p.m. – Rolling Thunder Ceremony
– May 24th @ 2:30 p.m. – Elmwood Cemetery Ceremony
– May 24th @ 2:45 p.m. – VFW Post 133 Ceremony
– May 25th @ 2:00 p.m. – American Legion’s throughout Middlesex County Ceremony
– May 26th @ 11:00 a.m. – North Brunswick Township’s Memorial Day Ceremony
If you are interested in visiting the Memorial Wall, please visit Veterans Park, 1596 Roosevelt Ave, North Brunswick Township, NJ 08902 from Friday, May 23rd at 9:15 a.m. to Monday, May 26th at 2 p.m., when the wall will come down. Thank you, and have a meaningful Memorial Day.
Sources:
“Traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall and American Tribute.” Township of North Brunswick. Accessed May 19, 2025. https://northbrunswicknj.gov/traveling-vietnam-memorial-wall/.
“Traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall and American Tribute.” Township of North Brunswick. Accessed May 19, 2025. https://northbrunswicknj.gov/programs_and_service/vietnam-traveling-memorial-wall/.Throughout this spring we at Elmwood have had a very full events calendar.