KNOXVILLE, TENN. — The Veterans Heritage Site Foundation mobilized more than 500 volunteers across East Tennessee for Memorial Day weekend, placing flags and wreaths at the graves of fallen service members in locations including Cades Cove and Knoxville National Cemetery. Volunteers traveled through Cades Cove and parts of Cocke and Sevier counties placing wreaths and flags on gravesites.

The foundation spends the year preserving and honoring veterans' burial sites throughout East Tennessee, including Revolutionary War cemeteries, Civil War graves and veterans buried in the Great Smoky Mountains. Volunteers participating in the foundation's efforts include Boy Scout troops and young families.

One ceremony honored Luke Lawson, an 18-year-old World War I soldier killed in action whose body took two years to return home to Cades Cove. The foundation works alongside other organizations for additional ceremonies later this month, including a May 30 observance honoring Civil War veterans buried at Knoxville National Cemetery. May 30 was the original observance date for Memorial Day.

"We have a saying that a veteran dies twice. Once when they physically pass and once when no one even thinks or says their name anymore," said Marilyn Childress, president of the Veterans Heritage Site Foundation. Childress said Memorial Day should remain focused on remembering those who died in service.

Memorial Day weekend begins before sunrise for many military families and volunteers, said Jenny Testerman, a volunteer who comes from a military family and has spent more than two decades helping place flags on veterans' graves. Testerman said volunteers will spend the weekend placing flags at state veterans cemeteries and smaller private cemeteries across East Tennessee while supporting Gold Star families and other veterans.

"There is a huge difference. Memorial Day is for those who have given the ultimate sacrifice," Testerman said. She said one of her favorite parts of the tradition is watching young children participate and slowly learn the meaning behind the holiday.

Several other Memorial Day events are planned across the region. American Legion Post 2 is scheduled to hold its annual Memorial Day ceremony at the East Tennessee Veterans Memorial in World's Fair Park, and volunteers will assist with flag placements at the Tennessee State Veterans Cemeteries in Knox County.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced Memorial Day ceremonies at national cemeteries across Tennessee, including Knoxville National Cemetery and Mountain Home National Cemetery on May 26. Knoxville National Cemetery was established in 1863 during the Civil War and contains veterans from nearly every American conflict since.