“Flags-In” ceremony held ahead of Memorial Day

ARLINGTON, VA. (AP NEWS)-Soldiers with the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, known as the Old Guard, spent Thursday placing a small American flag at each gravesite in Arlington National Cemetery ahead of Memorial Day.

The tradition is known as "flags-in," and it has been held annually since to honor the nation's fallen warriors since the Army named the Old Guard as its official ceremonial unit in 1948.

According to Arlington National Cemetery, a small American flag is placed in front of more than 228,000 headstones and at other key sites.  

Soldiers insert each flag into the ground exactly one boot length from the headstone's base.

The cemetery says it is open only to those holding a "family pass" during the Memorial Day weekend.

The flags will be removed after Memorial Day, before the cemetery opens to the public.