Natchez veterans and their supporters want young people to remember the meaning of the American flag. So members of VFW 9573 and the Ladies Auxiliary of the VFW presented 31 American flags to the Natchez-Adams School District Friday afternoon.

&uot;It’s just to help them remember what the flag represents (and) what it stands for,&uot;&160;said Vickie Stowers, president of the Ladies Auxiliary.

The VFW bought flags for every kindergarten and 12th grade class in the district – plus one for the superintendent’s office – and plans to provide flags for other grades in the upcoming years.

&uot;We want to have the American flag in every classroom,&uot; said Blackie Williams, VFW District 3 commander.

Superintendent Dr. Carl Davis, who received the flags from the post, said he had been talking to the VFW about the flag presentation for several months.

&uot;We pledged to them we would get (the flags) mounted and put in the rooms this summer before school starts,&uot; he said.

Williams said veterans groups often do programs in the schools and during those programs members have noticed many of the classrooms do not have mounted American flags.

So the flag donation became an ongoing project for the veterans, he said.

In the future, members of the VFW hope to continue programs in the school and bring in more veterans to speak to the students.

&uot;I think patriotic assembly of any kind is important and I think they need to be aware of what veterans have done for our country,&uot; Stowers said.