Miniature flags mark veteran graves

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Miniature flags mark veteran graves

Miniature Australian flags have recently been placed in tribute on the graves of veterans in the Millicent and Tantanoola cemeteries.


The gesture was undertaken by Millicent RSL members on Saturday and came on the eve of Anzac Day which falls today.


It dates back almost 20 years and was started by Millicent resident Dawn Atkinson.


She began the flag tribute on a personal basis back in 2006 as a way of honouring her father Bill Werchon who had died the previous year.


Mr Werchon had been a member of the AIF during World War II and was later a president of the Millicent RSL.


Within a few years, Ms Atkinson thought it was appropriate to acknowledge the service of all service personnel at the Millicent cemetery.


She obtained the manpower for the flag tribute from the local Scout Group and the Millicent RSL.


Ms Atkinson was formerly the Group Leader of the Joeys, Cubs and Scouts of the First Millicent Scout Group which went into recess in 2019.


In an online statement, the Millicent RSL explained the flag tribute undertaken by its members on Saturday.


“Identifying the right graves is done by looking for the RSL, Army, Navy or Air Force badges or inscriptions indicating military service,” stated the Millicent RSL.


“We sometimes get questioned as to why we have not marked a particular grave, but without those indicators we cannot identify them as the last resting place of a veteran.”

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