Like pretty much everything these days, Veterans Day at the Forest Lawn Group cemeteries (and all across WNY) will look very different this year than it ever has before. Unfortunately, this year, New York State and Erie County social distancing mandates remain in effect.

So the veterans organizations that present annual Veterans Day ceremonies, which we are so proud to host at Forest Lawn and our sister cemeteries, have all made the difficult but certainly prudent decision to cancel these annual events.

Unfortunately, the same legal mandates that have prompted the cancellation of these events also make it impossible for us to allow the general public to place flags at the tens of thousands of veterans graves in the veterans sections of Forest Lawn. If you are the family member of deceased veteran, you are of course welcome to make your personal tribute to your loved one by decorating his/her grave. Cemeteries across the nation have had to make the same decision.

But Veterans Day CANNOT pass without honoring those who have served and are serving.

While we recognize that it is everyone’s responsibility do our part to stop the spread of the Coronavirus by complying with the law, we remain steadfast in our commitment to honoring those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom and all that we hold dear. At times like this, we need to think “outside the box,” so we have reached out to the Erie County American Legion and have made arrangements with our friends at WBEN Radio 930 to re-create the official annual Erie County American Legion Veterans Day service in a special radio broadcast on Veterans Day.

You can listen to it whenever you’d like on demand on the WBEN website by clicking here: Veterans Day 2020