Thousands of flags arranged on university campus to honor fallen military members

PHOENIX - Ahead of Memorial Day weekend, nearly 100 volunteers are helping to arrange flags at the University of Phoenix to honor those who lost their lives fighting for our country.

Courage. Legacy. Gratitude.

Those are the words the community is using to describe our fallen heroes, and those very words are spelled out using 10,000 American flags on the campus.

"The community votes on this, so this is really meaningful to the community," said Eric Ryan, senior director of military operations at the university.

It takes about 90 volunteers to make this happen. These volunteers are staff members of the University of Phoenix.

"We start planning this event usually around February, and then we had yesterday a crew of 15 set up all the measurements and the outline so that another 65 could come in today and get it filled in," Ryan said.

Many of the volunteers are coming back year after year to help arrange the flags where they'll stand for a week.

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After the week, the flags will be placed at military grave sites.

"It seems like such a small thing to do. An opportunity to really honor and remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country," Andrea Siegrist-Baez, a volunteer, said.

Ryan served in the U.S. Marines in Iraq and witnessed the courage of these men and women firsthand.

"To me, personally, I think courage really embodies those who gave the ultimate sacrifice and legacy," Ryan said. "We're trying to honor their legacy."

The final word is gratitude.

Ryan says, "To me, it's all about gratitude. The lives we live today are only possible because of the sacrifices of others."

2024 marks the 15th year this memorial has taken place.