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A Memorial Day mission

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Ken Rucci, Sr.,70, of Westbrook Park, started in 2004 placing flags on the grave of his father, Paul Rucci, a World War II veteran., and a few other relatives. It helped him deal with the loss of his father who had passed away in the fall of 2003. He now places approximately 500 flags on the graves of veterans at Saints Peter and Paul Cemetery in Springfield, Delaware County. He is shown on May 24, 2024, the first day of a two day process
Ken Rucci, Sr.,70, of Westbrook Park, started in 2004 placing flags on the grave of his father, Paul Rucci, a World War II veteran., and a few other relatives. It helped him deal with the loss of his father who had passed away in the fall of 2003. He now places approximately 500 flags on the graves of veterans at Saints Peter and Paul Cemetery in Springfield, Delaware County. He is shown on May 24, 2024, the first day of a two day processRead moreCharles Fox / Staff Photographer

It started in May 2004 with just six flags, a simple task for Ken Rucci Sr. to honor his father, Paul, a World War II Navy veteran who had died the previous fall, and a handful of other relatives buried at SS. Peter and Paul Cemetery in Springfield, Delaware County. Twenty years later, Rucci’s annual Memorial Day holiday ritual has grown to involve placing as many as 500 flags throughout the cemetery over two days to honor veterans he didn’t even know. He quietly leaves behind crisp, new flags to flap in the wind in tribute to those who served and to let them know they are not forgotten. Consider it a flag-bearing tour of duty of two decades and counting.

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