Members of Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 308 gathered on Thursday, May 19, joined by community residents to replace American flags at the graves of veterans buried in cemeteries across Newtown.

The annual tradition is done to honor departed service members prior to Memorial Day.

Volunteers in attendance included members of the Second Company Governor's Horse Guard, Cub Scout Pack 70, and upcoming high school graduates who plan to enlist in the United States Marine Corps next month.

Lieutenant Ken Fay, Public Affairs Officer for the Second Company Governor's Horse Guard, said the act of placing flags on veterans' graves was done for a few reasons.

"We are trying to honor those who served and to honor the families of those who have served, and we are giving back to the community that has supported us in our time in town," Lt Fay said via email to The Newtown Bee.

Upon meeting at the VFW on Thursday, volunteers were assigned a specific cemetery in Newtown, with at least one VFW member at each location. Large cemeteries, such as St Rose Cemetery in Sandy Hook, as well as every small gravesite on the side of a road, were included in this effort, to ensure every grave received a new flag.

This year, over 1,200 flags, at a total cost of over $1,500, were purchased by the VFW to be distributed. All old flags were collected from gravesites for proper disposal.

To support this Memorial Day tribute, donations can be sent to the VFW PayPal account found on their website vfwpost308.com.

Monday, May 23, 2016: This story has been updated to correctly reflect the delivery of a comment by Ken Fay.