Mike Fuqua came to the Miramar National Cemetery on Saturday to take part in a program that he described as “the least we can do” to honor those who gave the most.
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The retired U.S. Navy captain was one of an estimated 550 volunteers for Operation Flags for Vets, which placed 23,000 American flags at veteran headstones at the 313-acre site at the northwest corner of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.
“When you come out here and see this,” the 75-year-old said, sweeping his hand over the gravesites, “there’s a reverence to it all.”
Operation Flags for Vets is done each Memorial Day weekend in coordination with the Department of Veterans Affairs and hosted by Rotary District 5340. The project was started in 2024 by Rick Clark, a Navy Seabees veteran of the Vietnam War and past president of the La Jolla Triangle Rotary Club.
“I got goosebumps that first year,” Clark said. “I just stood out there and I looked at all these beautiful flags — red, white and blue, rolling across the hillside — and I thought, a simple idea but it has so much backing” from veterans, active military and civilians.
Andrea Freeman, 61, sits at the gravesite of her husband and Navy veteran Edward Freeman Jr. at Miramar National Cemetery on Saturday. He died in December 2025 at age 87. (Kristian Carreon / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Rick Clark, 84, is the founder of “Operation Flags for Vets” where volunteers place U.S. flags on veteran gravesites for Memorial Day at Miramar National Cemetery on Saturday, May 23, 2026. (Kristian Carreon / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
As part of third annual “Operation Flags for Vets,” over 500 volunteers placed 23,000 flags on veteran gravesites in preparation for Memorial Day at Miramar National Cemetery on Saturday. (Kristian Carreon / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Navy veteran Budd Sutliff, 77, a section leader for “Operation Flags for Vets,” demonstrates proper flag placement to volunteers. (Kristian Carreon / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
23,000 U.S. flags were placed on veteran gravesites as part of “Operation Flags for Vets” for Memorial Day at Miramar National Cemetery on Saturday. (Kristian Carreon / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Courtney Sanford helps her children Noelle, 11; Aubrey, 3, and Preston, 6, place a flag on a veteran gravesite for Memorial Day at Miramar National Cemetery. (Kristian Carreon / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Aubrey Sanford, 3, holds a U.S. flag as she walks along veteran gravesites at Miramar National Cemetery. (Kristian Carreon / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Clark said the inspiration for the project came from his father, Clyde Clark, a World War II veteran whose unit helped liberate the Dachau concentration camp in Germany, where 200,000 prisoners were interned and more than 40,000 died during the Holocaust.
“He never liked to talk about it, but I wish he were here to see this,” Clark said.
With the United States poised to celebrate the 250th anniversary of its founding in just a few weeks, Saturday’s event took on extra meaning for Daniel Ortega of Chula Vista.
“We’ve seen, in the past, a lot of things — some of them good, some of them not so good,” said Ortega, who paid respects to his wife Karen’s father and mother, who are buried together at Miramar National Cemetery. “But I can say that we live in the best country in the world and we all just have to stick together, learn from our mistakes, get better and live together.”
Karl and Cathy Splett, parents of three sons, drove from Carlsbad to help place flags, pay their respects and pause to reflect.
“They’re young, many of the guys and women who leave us,” Cathy Splett said. “As a mother, you just have to open your arms and let them fight for our freedom, fight for the person next to you. And the hole that must be in your heart — knowing that they are not going to come home.”
Karl Splett’s father, Howard Eugene Splett, served on a PT-Boat, a small and fast patrol torpedo vessel, in World War II.
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“I learned as a child that supporting the miliary is 100% critical,” the 62-year-old said. “Whatever endeavor, it doesn’t matter, as long as you’re on the same team, and I believe in giving my time in this good cause and supporting these people.”
Eleven-year-old Noelle Sanford of Temecula said she was happy and eager to participate. Along with her mother and a Rotarian from Fallbrook, she joined her three brothers and sisters, ranging in ages from 3 to 13, in taking measuring sticks to insert each flag the correct distance from the markers and place them at the right height.
“I think it’s very important to be respectful to them because they served our country and they protected our country and that’s why we have what we have now,” she said.
Jesse Garcia, a 45-year-old from San Diego, led a contingent from Carpenters Union Local 619 that joined the proceedings.
“It’s an honor to come out and pay our respects to the men and women who have fought for our freedom and protection,” he said.
A father of one son serving in the Air Force and stationed in Florida and another stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Garcia regularly attends Memorial Day events at Miramar National Cemetery as well as Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, located on the Point Loma peninsula. Garcia said he often gets choked up placing the flags on each gravesite.
“It’s about doing it right, saying their name, honoring the individual, saying thank you,” Garcia said. “For me, there is emotion involved, absolutely.”
Operation Flags for Vets is a project funded entirely by private donations. Fuqua, a Rotarian and one of the project’s organizers, said the event costs about $16,000 to conduct. Rotary District 5340 comprises 63 clubs and 3,200 members in San Diego and Imperial counties.
Miramar National Cemetery will host a Memorial Day ceremony Sunday at 1 p.m. in which the public can visit the gravesites of military men and women and pay respects. Admission is free.
Rotary District 5340 is seeking volunteers on Tuesday at 3 p.m. to help pull the flags and store them to make them ready for Memorial Day 2027. If you’d like to take part, visit rotary5340.org.
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