As Highline students made their way around campus this past week, many may have noticed the scores of American flags placed on the grass next to Building 8, each meticulously lined up in neat rows in order to honor Memorial Day.

Memorial Day is a landmark American holiday meant to remind us of those who died while serving their country in the U.S. military. It wasn’t until 1971 that the last Monday in May became a federal holiday, after congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act in 1968. 

This federal holiday includes observation for the longest war the U.S. has been involved in from 2001 to 2021. This day is not just for having a day off from school or work. It’s for commemorating the veterans that did not get to come back home and hang up their uniform. 

The flags on Highline’s campus represented the fallen men and women that we’ve lost while in service to our country overseas. There were 2,459 flags lined up in the middle of campus in remembrance. 

Kendall Evans, Veterans Service Specialist at Highline stressed how important this holiday is and what it means to a lot of military families. 

Evans stated that he had sent out an invitation to all the Highline College clubs on campus to come help with planting the flags on the grass. Evans gratefully said, “All who came to participate in helping put out the flags are very appreciated.”

The flags lined the lawn on campus on Wednesday, May 22, but were removed on the following day – well short of actual Memorial Day, observed this year on Monday, May 27. Evans gave some insight about why the flags were only out for a short time, as when the flags were taken down, people asked why.

The flags only stayed out for a night for a few reasons, of which one of the main reasons was that he didn’t want anyone moving the flags. He had also mentioned that there was an incident where he had to ask a group of students to stop taking the flags out of the ground, to take pictures with. The flags were not meant to be moved or touched. 

Another big reason why the flags only stayed out for as long as they did, was because of what’s going on in the world right now with Israel, the protests that have been taking place on other college campuses across the U.S., and the unrest that has been surrounding these current world issues.

Evans had more to say about why the flags were taken down before the holiday.  “We didn’t want to cause any unrest to keep the peace, but wanted to still celebrate the lives that didn’t make it back home to us,”  Evans said. They wanted to make sure the campus here at Highline remained a safe place. 

Finally, Evans stated that next year for Memorial Day if people want the flags to stay out longer they will do that. One thing that must be kept in mind for next year, though, is that the flags are there to represent lost lives and to be seen in remembrance.