Ahead of Memorial Day, the 3rd Infantry Regiment (better known as the Army's "Old Guard") placed American flags on each of the 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery in an annual tradition known as "flags in."
The soldiers place each U.S. flag precisely one foot in front of a grave marker and make sure it is squarely centered on the grave. The entire "flags in" process takes three hours to complete.
One member of the Old Guard, Lt. Lauren Glover, told WLJA-TV:
“It's something different. A different way to celebrate Memorial Day because some of these people don't have families to come out and put a flag in front of it, so it's kind of nice to be out here with fellow soldiers and to honor those that came before us.”
After Memorial Day, reports The Associated Press, the Old Guard will remove every single one of the flags before Arlington National Cemetery opens back up to the public.
