DAR sets up annual Field of Flags in downtown Jackson

JACKSON, Tenn. — A field of red, white and blue — all to remember those who served.

The Daughters of the American Revolution set up for their annual Field of Flags display Saturday morning.

“It is an unusual field of flags in that it honors the patriots that served in the American Revolution,” flag committee chairman Gwen McCaffrey-McReynolds said. “We feel it is an honor to help recognize those who helped form our county.”

The flags will be on display until early July at Triangle Park in downtown Jackson. Each of the 163 flags has a marker dedicated to a patriot, and the colony he served from.

“The Revolutionary War is not necessarily an everyday topic of conversation, and this is an educational opportunity,” committee member Alice Horton said.

For Horton, the display has deep meaning. She has four patriots on the field.

“It signifies a lot of research, and when you’re researching that far back, you get to know them. They becomes real,” she said. “And when you get to see their names out here, it’s wonderful.”

Eleven of the 13 colonies are represented in the display. The first two rows specifically commemorate soldiers from Madison County.

“Those are men who either died here, lived here or walked through here at some time,” McCaffrey-McReynolds said.

McCaffrey-McReynolds said she hopes the younger generations use the display as an educational opportunity.

“Hopefully many children will come out and walk among the names and see the names of the colonies and the patriots,” she said.