A volunteer helps plant flags on Boston Common. (Kim Tunnicliffe/WBZ NewsRadio 1030)
BOSTON (WBZ-AM) -- An annual Memorial Day tradition continues on Boston Common, as part of the park is blanketed in red, white, and blue flags.
More than 700 volunteers from the Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund planted the nearly 37,000 flags by the Soldiers and Sailors Monument.
It's the ninth year in a row that the group has put on the patriotic display.
Every flag represents a Massachusetts soldier killed serving their country, dating back to the American Revolution.
Volunteer Ryan Couch from Waltham looked out on the sea of flags and told WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Kim Tunnicliffe he felt incredibly proud.
"It stops you," he said. "It's a representation of every service member we've lost and it just stops you in your tracks."
Ellen Sullivan from Somerville volunteered in the flag-planting project.
"My brother was a Marine, and I celebrate our killed-in-action soldiers every day by wearing one of their buttons," she said. "It's something I'm passionate about, because people were willing to put their life on the line to help others and protect our freedoms and other people's, and that's pretty remarkable."
Margaret Cox from Revere comes out every year to help plant the flags.
"Freedom is not free," she said. "And I love the veterans. This is my way to tell them thank you, because I appreciate what they do for us."
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Kim Tunnicliffe reports