HOW THE RELAY BEGAN.....

The history behind this version of a National Memorial Day Flag Relay (NMDFR) was initiated by a Navy Chaplain & Religious Program (RP) Specialist deployed to Iraq with 8th Communications Battalion, II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF) at Camp Fallujah on Memorial Day in 2005.  In that setting, over 180 Services Members in pairs of 2 (from 4 Military Service Branches and other support personnel) relayed a United States flag in fifteen-minute increments across Camp Fallujah (returning to a common starting point) for “hand- offs” from sunrise to just past sunset, covering 101 kilometers (63 miles approx.) 

One comment made to the organizing chaplain by a Marine that day was, “Sir, We ought to be doing this back home in America!”

            Four years passed and that same Navy Chaplain went on another deployment to Afghanistan (2008-09), where more Military Service Members were killed in combat.  After returning home in April 2009, he organized and enlisted the support of 8 other Navy Chaplains for conducting a 90-mile Memorial Day Flag Relay event from the National Cemetery in Mobile, AL., to the main flag pole in front of the chapel at Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola, FL.  Numerous challenges were met along this initial route, but the last team finally reached the flag pole at approximately 9:30pm that evening. Lessons were learned and implemented the following year!

Since 2010, multiple versions of a Memorial Day Flag Relay (MDFR) have been conducted in Mobile, AL. and across Baldwin County, AL., passing through multiple small towns like Loxley, Robertsdale, Summerdale, Foley, Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and over Alabama Point Bridge.  Two years the routes even included segments reaching as far west as Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, MS., and sporadically continued east to Pensacola.  Over the years devoted volunteer leaders have stepped up to organize this Flag Relay effort, enlist flag relayers, and conduct the event in an orderly and safe manner.  Each year over 100 “flag relayers” commit to a place and time along the route to relay the flag for a mile, or two, or three -- followed by a support team, often with local law enforcement officers and vehicles leading the way enhancing safety and traffic control.

            In 2013, the same Navy Chaplain was deployed again to Djibouti, Africa and conducted a similar MDFR Event at Camp DJ with the support of military leadership/personnel and other interested parties.  This time the participants had to “run all night” from “Taps” to “Reveille,” due to heat conditions during the day at that particular location.  After leading this event in Djibouti and seeing the corresponding evidence of MDFR events taking place back home along the Central Gulf Coast, the chaplain envisioned a national version of the MDFR moving across America -- all on the same day.  The potential for comradery, unity and community building seemed priceless.

            In 2016, after spending another year on special assignment and then being promoted to an assignment in Washington, DC., the Navy Chaplain explored a route from the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery to Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, CA.  Based on estimates at that time, he surmised that a National Memorial Day Flag Relay (NMDFR) was in fact feasible and offered great potential for inspiring participants and observers alike.  Since that time, he has dreamed, planned and plotted for a time when the nation would need and benefit significantly from supporting and participating in a National Memorial Day Flag Relay, conducted for the purpose of honoring our Service Members and their loved ones who have paid the ultimate sacrifice(s) for our freedom(s).

            In January 2024, he became aware and burdened that such a time had come and that Monday, 26 May 2025, would be an extraordinary opportunity to conduct a NMDFR event, as it compliments the 250th Anniversary of the formations of the U. S. Army (August), U. S. Navy (October) and the U. S. Marine Corps (November).  On 23 June 2024, the now retired Navy Chaplain announced the NMDFR 2025 effort during a worship service at First Baptist Dallas, TX., and made a public proposal and appeal for our nation to join together in participating in this event in order to show our unity in this common effort of “Remembering 2 Remember!”

            Since the public proposal and announcement in June of 2024, efforts are being made daily to pray, finalize plans, enlist national and local community leaders, register “flag relayers” (beginning on 01 MARCH 2025, via the nmdfr.org website), gather resources, and shape the eventual success of this event for our citizens as: “one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

VISION

Honor our nation's fallen military service members & their loved ones

CORE VALUES

Honor, Unity, Respect, & Commitment