Navy Veteran Marvin Hume of Sunset Beach, NJ Honors the Fallen Every Summer Night

Jim Axelrod CBS News reported this amazing story in July:  A friend of mine emailed me the link and I wanted to share it with anyone reading this blog.  PLEASE watch the video.  It's about 2 minutes long.

Every night from Memorial Day to mid October on Sunset Beach in southern New Jersey, eighty nine year old Marvin Hume, a Navy Veteran, raises a flag that has draped the casket of a Fallen Hero.  He does this to honor his or her service and sacrifice.  He was "booked" every night through this summer (2010) and is already "booked" every night next summer.



This all started when Mr. Hume bought property from a man who had been raising and lowering his own flag each night.  When Mr. Hume bought the property the former owner asked him to continue the tradition of raising the flag each day and lowering the flag each night. 

For the past THIRTY EIGHT years Mr. Hume has held this sunset ceremony.  Every night the crowd is so large that, as Mr. Hume says, "you can't even see the ocean."  He has held over 6000 ceremonies to date.

June, the daughter in law of WWII Navy Veteran, George McKenna, attends every night.  "It's always emotional.  Sometimes the flags have bullet holes in them.  We're all here because of their sacrifice."

When asked how long he intends to do this Mr. Hume said, "Until I drop."