The City of Chattanooga will has invited community members to commemorate their loved ones who served in the armed forces by having a flag flown in their honor on Veterans Bridge.
"Twice a year - on Memorial Day and Veterans Day - we gather on the river bluff not simply to raise flags, but more importantly, to recognize the individual veterans and their life stories that the flags represent," Mayor Andy Berke said in a statement. "This is an incredible opportunity for Chattanoogans to honor or memorialize a veteran in their family."
A group or person may honor a veteran by donating $75, the cost of a flag.
Honorees receive a proclamation recognizing their service and announces the pole number from which their flag flies. The flags fly for six months and switch out twice a year around Memorial Day and Veterans Day. The new flags are raised on the bridge, flying alongside the five permanent flags dedicated to the memory of the servicemen who died in Chattanooga on July 16, 2015.
The spring flag-raising ceremony takes place May 22 at 10:30 a.m. at the Sculpture Garden at Bluffview, city spokeswoman Marissa Bell said.
To purchase a flag, contact the Chattanooga Department of Transportation at (423) 643-5950.