Happy Father's Day weekend! Sadly, it gets less mention or press than Mother's Day, but is equally pivotal and important to recognize. And not just fathers who have raised children, but fathers who have been instrumental in birthing our nation, and who have given themselves in its service. Flag Day honors the founding fathers, our fallen fathers, and fathers who actively serve. As I wrote in a previous RedState article, the progression of Memorial Day, Flag Day, and Independence Day is deliberate and coordinated. As one article on Flag Day affirms,
“Flag Day is an honor and tradition that displays the national flag with pride and happiness," said Anniston Army Depot Sgt. Maj. Happiness Brown on army.mil. "It is an annual observance which reminds us of the dedication and sacrifices made by our military service members. It’s also a time to pray for our troops, those at home and abroad."
So this week's Friday's Feel-Good Friday honors Father's Day and Flag Day, and spotlights how our young people are leading the way in honoring those who served and died for our liberty.
Special thanks to our Max Daly, a regular reader who helped launch this by pointing me to the Cheektowaga, New York, story.
My husband, Lynn, and I have been road tripping through the Midwest these past few weeks, visiting family and just enjoying our beautiful country. My husband's aunt still resides in Marysville, Kansas, and we spent some time visiting her, and making stops to the places that matter to him; like the American Legion Post 163 and the Marysville City Cemetery to visit the family graves. Lynn's father served in the Marines during World War II, so he has a bronze medallion on his stone to signify he is a veteran. His maternal uncle, Lynn Rosegrant Brodrick (after whom Lynn was named), served in the Army in World War I. The fact that Lynn Rosegrant Brodrick's 72-year-old gravestone is so well preserved is thanks to the city's requirement that all grave stones be placed on concrete. This prevents the ground erosion and overgrowth that often plagues veteran gravesites, and the city also assists in maintaining all the gravestones on site.
But across the country, so many veteran gravesites housed within private cemetery grounds are not as well maintained; many are broken, fading, or sinking into the ground. Other veterans have simply been forgotten, either never having received a gravestone or their gravestones have been severely damaged and were never replaced. Since 1973, the Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration (NCA) has operated national veterans cemeteries and veteran plots in private cemeteries.
156 national cemeteries and 35 soldiers' lots and monument sites in 42 states and Puerto Rico. More than 4 million Americans, including Veterans of every war and conflict, are buried in VA's national cemeteries. VA also provides funding to establish, expand, improve and maintain 122 Veterans cemeteries in 46 states and territories including tribal trust lands, Guam, and Saipan. For Veterans not buried in a VA national cemetery, VA provides headstones, markers or medallions to commemorate their service. In 2017, VA honored more than 361,892 Veterans and their loved ones with memorial benefits in national, state, tribal and private cemeteries.
Those gravestones within private cemeteries are often neglected and forgotten, particularly once the line of family has passed. In 2020, NCA launched a lovely initiative called "The Cemetery Restoration Project," which forms partnerships with individuals, communities, and graveyard caretakers on how to honor and memorialize veterans who have been buried without headstones, as well as restore the private resting places of those veterans with the dignity and honor these men and women who served and sacrificed in service to our country deserve. The best part of this: Young people are leading the way.
One shining example was Memorial Day 2025 in Cheektowaga, New York. For two years, community resident Paul Mueller has organized a group to restore veterans' gravestones. Most of his team are high school students. In 2024, Mueller and his team were able to restore 900 graves! In 2025, they restored around 500 veteran gravestones, and Mueller said that his goal is to ensure the 2,000 veteran grave markers at this cemetery are brought back and restored again. Such beautiful commitment. In terms of the young people, it is heartening that they are not only hungry to know history and learn from it, but to give back to those who have given to them.
Mueller added, "To see these young kids giving back, they're reading the names on the stones. It's really great." Another student also shared, "It will be kind of cool to walk by and be able to say, 'I helped do that'."
In an interview with WIVBTV, Mueller also explained, "Many of us aren’t veterans, so this is our way of giving back to our country and to our veterans."
Mueller's team is not just high schoolers. Living veterans also love being a part of this project.
Army veteran Mitch Mayor, a volunteer with the group, told WIVBTV, "It just makes me feel good that I’m able, in my very small way, to give back to honor these ladies and gentlemen who served this great country of ours."
WATCH:
Not to be outmatched, seven years ago, a young girl in Huntsville, Alabama, decided to study her family's military history as a part of completing her Girl Scout bronze project. Emma Landrum soon discovered that there were veterans who had no gravestones, and it greatly upset the young girl so much so that she and her family launched the Forgotten Warriors Project. Now, at the age of 15, Landrum continues her work of raising funds to provide headstones to unmarked veteran graves.
Emma Landrum, a 15-year-old high school junior, is working to change that. "We learned that there was ten unmarked graves and it just completely made me distraught. I was just like, this is not okay," Landrum said.
She launched the Forgotten Warriors Project seven years ago, inspired by a discovery during her early days as a Girl Scout.
"She was so upset about it, so passionate about it and she was like, can I do that for my bronze project?" said Crystal Landrum, Emma's mother.
What started as a Girl Scout Bronze Award project has now become Landrum’s mission — and a tribute to her late father, John Landrum, a United States Air Force veteran who died of COVID-19 a few years ago.
Such a weighty Father's Day gift that honors her own Daddy.
"Mr. McFarland will always be in my heart. It was the first marker that I ever set and when my dad died, we got them right across from each other," she said.
Donald McFarland received the first military marker funded by Landrum’s project. Today, he rests just feet away from John Landrum at Rose Lawn Cemetery in Decatur.
"I remember when me and my dad were just placing a marker on the grave and it was really amazing. Now he's right here, right next to Mr. McFarland and it is awesome. It is amazing to know that he is that close to where we were placing a wreath on a grave," Emma said.
Landrum constantly researches, finding more veterans buried without markers, and commits to ensuring they are honored with a gravestone.
"I didn’t know if she was going to stick with it or if it was just going to be a one and done. Well, it was not for her. She immediately decided she wanted them all," Crystal [Landrum] said.
"I will not for the life of me quit this," Emma said. "This is not because of my Girl Scout project. This is because of my heart."
I'll say it again: The kids are gonna be all right, thanks to great fathers, great veterans, and great soldiers. Happy Father's Day, Happy Flag Day, and because of them and those who they inspire, may God continue to bless the United States of America!
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