A Veteran's Nightly Tribute to the Fallen

Watch CBS News Videos OnlineOn a strip of sand at the southern tip of New Jersey, there's a flagpole where 89-year-old Marvin Hume gathers a group each night.

"Every day I do the service, it's just as important to me as the day before and right on back," Marvin tells CBS News national correspondent Jim Axelrod.

Every veteran's casket is draped in a flag. Each night, here on Sunset Beach, one of those casket flags is raised in honor of a different service member.

Marvin's flag ceremony draws a big audience.

"I get hundreds," he says. "There's so many people there you can't see the ocean. God Bless America"

He's booked every night -- through this summer and next summer as well -- by families wanting to honor their heroes.

This all started when Marvin bought the property from a man who'd been raising and lowering the flag each night. He asked Marvin to continue. Marvin, a Navy vet, said sure, thinking about some buddies he lost in World War II

"I just happen to be in the right place - simple as that," Marvin says.

Hume kept his promise - and then some. He's been conducting this sunset ceremony on this beach seven days a week - from Memorial Day until mid-October - for the last 38 years.

That adds up to nearly 6,000 ceremonies.

On this night, June McKenna's father-in-law George McKenna, another WWII Navy vet, was being remembered.

June was there. No surprise; she's there every night - even when she doesn't know the vet.

"It's always emotional," June says. "Sometimes the flags have bullet holes in them. By the grace of God we're all here because of their sacrifice."

As for Marvin, he says it never gets routine for him.

"You go out there and there's no two alike," he says.

How long will he continue to do this?

"Til I drop, sure," Marvin says. "That's what keeps me alive."

And that's what keeps alive the memory of those who served - reminding us all that the Fourth of July is more than just a long summer's weekend.

VIA: CBSeveningnews

FLAG DAY - Remember And Honor Our Flag Today

In May of 1776 Betsy Ross was sought out by three men of great notoriety to be the seamstress for the United States Flag. Those three men were George Washington, Robert Morris and George Ross. George Washington was the leader of the Continental Army at this time, Robert Morris was perhaps the wealthiest man at the time, and George Ross was relation; in fact her late husband’s Uncle. Betsy had even done some sewing for George Washington before. These men’s ideas for the flag included stripes and a five-point star. By June 14, 1777 just a little over a year later much had taken place. On this day Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes as the flag of the United States.


Bernard J. Cigrand Vision of Flag Day

Bernard J. Cigrand /strong>was a young teacher in 1885 who envisioned a day of remembrance and observance for the United States Flag. On June 14, 1885 he put the flag in jar on his desk and asked his class to write an essay about the flag and what it meant to them. Finally, after many years of hard work Bernard J. Cigrand’s vision came true when President Wilson issued a proclamation calling for a nation wide observance of Flag Day on May 30, 1916. Then in 1940 President Truman signed an Act of Congress designating the 14th of June every year as National Flag Day.


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PLEASE FLY YOUR FLAG WITH PRIDE TODAY