Army Veteran Honors Military Graves for 35 Years

Fred Busch, a long time resident of Brookfield and Quartermaster of the Town’s Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10201, places a flag on the grave of Donald L. McClay a Korean War Veteran buried at the Laurel Hill Cemetery.

Over the past 35 years, Busch returned each year the week before Memorial Day to the Brookfield cemeteries to place American flags by the veteran’s graves. The 82-year-old Busch, armed only with a cemetery map and a handful of flags, can be seen by visitors walking among the rows carefully checking each gravesite to make sure any newly buried veteran is not passed over.

A veteran of the Cold War himself, Busch spent many cold nights in the field in Germany in the early 1950s while on active duty, training with the infantry to maintain a high state of readiness as western Europe faced the real threat of an invasion by the Soviet led Warsaw Pact nations.

Busch admits with age it gets a little harder to kneel down and place the flags in the ground. He says sometimes its sad to come across the names of men he socialized with and remembered so well in past years, but he realizes the importance of paying homage to all deceased veterans by the placing of an American flag next to their tombstone, an America’s way of saying thank you from a grateful nation.

In total there are over 250 veterans gravesites located within the many cemeteries located throughout the town. For Busch it’s an all day process but one he and other members of the Brookfield VFW complete with dignity and pride.