Memorial Day in Nashville
Scout leader Dustin Moneal, center. of Boy Scout Pack 1322 gathers flags to put on graves at the Nashville National Cemetery, which is administered by the U.S. Veterans Administration. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
Members of Scouting USA, formerly Boy Scouts of America, traditionally place flags on graves in veterans cemeteries across the U.S. Tennessee Lookout photojournalist John Partipilo went to Nashville National Cemetery in Madison to document a local scout pack doing the 2025 honors.
Land for the cemetery was purchased in 1866. In 1867, it opened and the first interments were of Civil War dead, transplanted from veterans hospital cemeteries in the region. There are more than 4,000 unknown dead interred in the cemetery, which is administered by the U.S.Department of Veterans Affairs.
Collin Maddox, 26, dressed as a Continental soldier with the Sons of the American Revolution, holds flags for his group to start the process of placing flags on the graves at the Nashville National Cemetery. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
Women Scouts from left, Lila West, 12, and Michelle Oakley from Troop 934 in Mt. Juliet, place flags at the Nashville National Cemetery. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
Joe Baines walks through the Nashville National Cemetery wearing a a jacket featuring scouting patches he has saved. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
Rhonda Bernhardt walks through flags at Spring Hill Cemetery in Madison, Tennessee. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
James B. Hoyer holds flags for his troop to place on grave stones for Memorial Day. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
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