Just before Memorial Day each year, 71 American flags are placed in front of a home at 1032 Park Ridge in the Cedar Trace subdivision off Hwy. B in the Hillsboro area.
The late Oscar “Ed” Weaver, a Navy veteran who served in the South Pacific during World War II, started the tradition about 12 years ago to honor 71 shipmates who died during the war.
They served on the USS Mississippi BB41 and died after kamikaze planes struck it, said Mary Weaver, Ed’s wife, who has continued the tradition since her husband died in 2010.
Weaver, 86, has two neighbors, Philip Giljum and Chuck Price, who help her put out the flags.
“I have the best neighbors,” she said.
In addition, they put out a sign that Ed had made that reads, “71 flags honoring 71 shipmates; they gave the ultimate sacrifice. USS Mississippi BB41.”
Weaver said her husband cut 2-by-4 boards to make all the wooden flag poles. He also had a rack in the basement where he stored the flags and the sign when they were not in use.
“They had to be kept just so,” she said.
A photo of the USS Mississippi and a plaque with the names of the 71 shipmates who died are displayed in Weaver’s living room.
Ed Weaver was a petty officer second class in the Navy. He was 84 when he died, and he and Mary had been married 60 years at the time.
In addition to his wife, Ed was survived by two children – a son and a daughter – as well as a grandson and granddaughter.
