DALLAS — The Dallas-Forth Worth National Cemetery is experiencing the ripple effects of the government shutdown. Its Veterans Day celebration has been canceled.
A family with a loved one buried at the cemetery says that despite the shutdown, veterans still deserve to be honored.
“It’s kinda sad, because all these guys they paid their dues. They deserve the respect,” said Sharon Doss, who was holding back tears as she explains why Veterans Day means so much to her.
Charles McKittrick, her father, served in the Navy overseas in Vietnam and is buried at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery.
She and her mother were disappointed to learn organizers canceled this year’s Veterans Day ceremony honoring thousands at the cemetery.
“They deserve a lot of respect. People don’t really understand, I don’t think, how much to being in the military and to end up like this because of the military. It’s a sad situation,” explained Helen McKittrick.
Gary Poplin says the equipment used for the ceremony like the sound system for the choir and even the flags, are supplied by the government.
“We put stand up flagpoles and put, somewhere between 200 and 300 flags up, takes several hundred people to do that. The flag poles are stored in a government building on a government trailer that can only be pulled by government employee on a government vehicle,” he said.
But Poplin says the Texas National Cemetary Foundation will honor the fallen soldiers on Memorial Day next year.
“Very sad that we’re not going to have the ceremony,” said Doss.
She and McKittrick are planning their own Veterans Day ceremony to honor a father and husband.
“Getting our flags out and paying our respects here,” said Doss.
“He was a good man, a good husband, good family person. He is missed greatly,” said McKittrick.