Members of the Jarrettsville and Historic Elkridge Young Marines and Timonium Girl Scouts placed 3,500 flags on veterans’ gravesites at Dulaney Valley Memorial Grounds in Timonium to commence Memorial Day weekend.

“As a veteran, this means everything,” said LaGarian Smith, executive officer of the Historic Elkridge Young Marines. “You’re giving back to those that served before you and led the path for the freedoms we get to enjoy.”

Each year after placing flags, the Young Marines go to the grave of Sgt. Clayton Willey, a member of the Jarrettsville chapter. Willey enlisted in the military after graduating the Young Marines program and came back from service with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. He took his own life in 2013.

To Christine White, Jarrettsville chapter parent and volunteer, paying respects to Willey allows the youth to understand what it means to be a Young Marine.

“It’s like looking in a mirror. I can see my own son,” she said.

The Young Marines also visited the gravesite of Allen James Noger, a volunteer in the Jarrettsville chapter who died in 2021.

“A lot of the Young Marines adopted him as a grandfather figure,” White said.

On Noger’s gravesite are coins, which are signs of respect for veterans and service members. Leaving a penny means someone visited the grave, a nickel means the visitor served with the person at boot camp, a dime means the visitor served with the person, and a quarter means the visitor was with the service member when they died.

On Monday, Dulaney Valley will hold its 57th Annual Memorial Day Ceremony. Gov. Wes Moore and Col. Louis P. Hawkins will deliver the memorial addresses.

This article has been updated to correct the name of Christine White.