BATON ROUGE, La. — A sea of red, white, and blue was in front of the Louisiana State Capitol.
Eleven thousand American flags waved in the breeze representing those from the Bayou State who died in service to the country.
“I have a husband who served in Vietnam, and he’s disabled, and we just feel for all the families, and this is a good time to remember them,” Judy Wall said.
Wall, from Amite, brought her grandchildren to the Garden of Flags to honor the military men and women who never made it home.
“Just thinking of the mommas and the daddies and the kids, the wives, the husbands,” Wall said. “Their loved ones died for our country.”
Rep. Mike Johnson, R-Pineville spent time at the display paying his respects.
“Many of the House and Senate are not in today,” Johnson said. “We have a committee where we’re here, but I am hoping that every single member will come by tomorrow when we’re back in session and see it. It puts things in perspective.”
Jill Sandridge is a Civics and U.S. Government teacher from Prairieville.
Visiting the flags has become an annual Memorial Day tradition for her family, including two young daughters.
“I just think it’s important to teach them that there are people that make sacrifices that we don’t have to so we can enjoy a free life,” Sandridge said.
Leonard Njoku is an American citizen from Nigeria. He says freedom should not be taken for granted.
“We’re here, most of us from Africa, from different areas trying to understand what America went through for their people to be free and for people to have the benefits and stuff we enjoy,” Njoku said.
The price of freedom isn’t free is a common refrain we hear on Memorial Day. The flag garden at the state capitol represents the sacrifices made and lives lost in defense of our country.
“As a nation, we don’t respect that enough,” Wall said. “This is an attempt to try and respect that.”
Blue Star Mothers of Louisiana planted the flags.
They will remain in place across from the state capitol through Saturday morning, June 3.
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