Idaho Falls honors fallen veterans at 10th annual Field of Honor

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - The Idaho Falls Field of Honor event is celebrating its 10th anniversary this Memorial Day.

Dozens of neighbors joined the local exchange club Saturday morning, to honor fallen local and national heroes.

“Everybody that comes here. You know, of course, it's all inspiring to see all the flags, but a lot of them come to honor those that have served," Exchange Club member Dan Kahl said. "So on every one of these flags, you can sponsor a loved one or a comrade could even be a local hero, a policeman or your favorite teacher.”

More than a thousand flags lined the green fields at Freeman Park.

Most bear the names of heroes we've lost throughout the years.

One family had members travel from California to bring their veteran father's flag.

“Josh Baird just passed away two months ago," the Baird family said. "We came here every year with him. So now this year, they gave him a flag. So we came to see it.”

“I’m honoring my dad, something who served in Korea in the 1953 56 today and also my father in law, Randall Bender, who was in World War Two with the engineering group in Germany," Kahl said.

Organizers say the emotions here run across generations.

That, they say, is the real meaning behind this holiday.

“We have little kids that run through the field playing through the flags and just enjoying life and just having fun to, you know, veterans that bring their kids out, show them that it's something important," Exchange Club member Kevin Cutle said. "Then we get old, old veterans that can barely walk. They're out here to, you know, remember their friends that have fallen as well. So it's a whole range of emotions and just wonderful to see.”

The Field of Honor will be open until after Memorial Day.