Veterans Renew Promise ‘Lest we forget’ Published May 29, 2013 By Caitlin Kenney 99th Air Base Wing Public Affairs NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. -- More than 400 people took time out of their long weekend to place 24,000 American flags on the graves of veterans at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City, Nev., May 25. One group of volunteers was from Nellis AFB, representing the Air Force Sergeants Association, Chapter 1252, who sends a group of volunteers every year to help with the flags. This Memorial Day event was a first for Senior Airman Kalia Kelly, 57th Weapons Support Squadron aviation resource manager. In 2010, just as she arrived in Afghanistan, two members of her unit in the 66th Rescue Squadron were killed in a crash. While she didn't know them personally, the stories she heard later about them from friends have stayed with her to this day. "It's a day to remember all of my brothers and sisters who have passed away, whether I knew them or not," she said. As attendees fanned out to begin placing flags, the Nellis group stayed together and headed toward a section in the cemetery. With one person pushing a poker into the ground and another placing the flags, the Airmen worked in teams to accomplish the job. Following strict standards on where the flags must go, the Airmen were able to help complete the section in an hour and a half. Working in his dress blues with no complaints about the rising heat, Master Sgt. Robert Lilly, 57th Operations Group tactical air control party-joint terminal attack controller, meticulously made holes next to the headstones for the flags. Though his father, a Marine, lost men in the Vietnam War, it was his service and his own five tours in Iraq that seemed to draw him here. "I've lost ... five comrades myself. This is personal to me. To show my respects to the guys that actually survived things worse off than I have and to pay homage to the guys that sacrificed it all," he said. Airman 1st Class Jessica Williams, 57th Operational Support Squadron air traffic controller apprentice, wanted to spend her time off in a meaning full way. "I'm out here today because I have a great respect for all those that came before me and out of the four days that Nellis was gracious enough to give us I thought that I could at least spare a few hours for the reason why we [honor this day]," she said.
