Time-lapse footage shows the hours-long effort to place 37,000 American flags on Boston Common Wednesday afternoon ahead of Memorial Day Weekend.
Hundreds of volunteers showed up to plant 37,000 U.S. flags on the Boston Common in honor of fallen soldiers Wednesday afternoon.
The flags were placed at the Foot Soldiers and Sailors Monument near the Frog Pond and will remain in place through Memorial Day weekend.
A team of more than 450 volunteers planted the flags. Each one represents a Massachusetts service member killed in action since the Revolutionary War.
"It started seven years ago," said Diane Nealon, executive director of the Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund, which organizes the event. "We were looking for a way to bring meaning back to Memorial Day."
Megan Van De Giesen lost her husband back in 2009 - he was killed while serving in Afghanistan. She's volunteered here ever since.
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"What I think is amazing, there's people coming from all different areas," she said. "A lot of the people here aren't directly affected. They're just here to support the men and women who served our country and made the ultimate sacrifice."
She hopes the flags serve as a reminder about the true meaning of Memorial Day.
"My favorite part is taking a step back after and realizing the absolute beauty of it and the absolute sadness of it at the same exact time," Van De Giesen said.
It only took volunteers two hours to place all of the flags.
Learn more about the Memorial Day Flag Garden here.
