Volunteers gathered in Lansing’s Evergreen Cemetery Wednesday to curate a memorial for Victory in Europe Day.
On May 8th, 1945, worldwide celebrations erupted to signify the end of the war in Europe. This week, organizers planted 325 American flags in the heart of the cemetery, commemorating Lansing residents who died in the war.
Michele Fickes and Janice Elias are two of the volunteers responsible for the memorial.
Fickes said there is a group of volunteers, veterans and civilians, who frequently construct these memorial fields. Some of their previous work included dedications to Vietnam and 9/11.
Many of the volunteers feel a powerful connection to these memorials. Elias’s husband, a Vietnam veteran, is buried near memorial site; she visits twice a day.
Inside Evergreen Cemetery is a veteran's memorial section called "Little Arlington". There are 156 World War II service members there.
Fickes said, “It was established May 30th, 1950. Since there were mass amounts of people being sent back from Europe and being interred in the cemeteries, those who didn’t have the resource were able to be put into this Veteran's plot. And it’s pretty significant... It’s very special to many veterans.”
The volunteer memorial group expressed their intention to organize more commemorative events moving forward. Specifically, they highlighted plans for occasions such as Memorial Day weekend, Veteran’s Day, and the anniversary of Pearl Harbor.