Draper Memorial Park Field of Flags Honors Veterans and Active Military Personnel on Three Patriotic Holidays Each Year
Citizens for Milford partnered with the Milford Corps of the Salvation Army in 2016 to organize the Draper Memorial Park Field of Flags, a tribute acknowledging the service and sacrifice of our veterans and active military personnel with a display of American flags to be placed in Draper Memorial Park on different patriotic holidays each year.
For a $40 donation, you can sponsor a 3′ x 5′ American flag, standing tall on a 10′ staff, in Draper Memorial Park. Each flag will include a yellow ribbon with an attached card naming the person being honored, military branch, years of service, and sponsor’s name. You can choose to sponsor a flag in honor of a veteran (alive or deceased) or an active member of the military. You can also choose to sponsor a flag in honor of all our nation’s veterans.
The $40 donation sponsors a flag in Draper Park for all three of these patriotic holidays:
- Memorial Day
- Fourth of July
- Veterans Day
INCLUDE A PHOTO! Each flag sponsor is invited to send us a small photo of the person for whom the flag is honoring. We will be happy to laminate the photo and include it with the card that names the person being honored. A 3.5″ x 4″ sized photo is ideal. You may also send us the photo as a digital file. Please be sure to email that to CitizensforMilford@gmail.com.
To sponsor a flag for the Draper Memorial Park Field of Flags project, click here to print a copy of the Field of Flags Order Form. Be sure to complete the form and mail it to the address provided on the form with your $40 check made out to SALVATION ARMY. If you would like to include a photo of the honoree, please send that as well.
If you need to be mailed a copy of the form, please email us at CitizensforMilford@gmail.com.
Your $40 donation qualifies as a tax-deductible charitable contribution.
WATCH a video produced by Milford TV about the Field of Flags.
Important Notes
- Over 200 Milford residents, organizations, and businesses have sponsored flags since we launched this project for Veterans Day 2016. Our goal is to continue to display as many as 200 flags for each holiday.
- You may send a flag sponsorship form anytime, and your flag will go up on the next patriotic holiday.
- The Field of Flags is displayed on Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and ending in November with Veterans Day.
- The $40 donation amount does not change based on when you sponsor a flag. For example, the donation is $40 even if you choose to sponsor a flag at the end of the Sponsorship Year just for Veterans Day.
- No matter when you send your donation, you will receive a form by email or U.S. mail inviting you to renew for another year.
- The flag and staff will remain the property of The Salvation Army in Milford and will be removed at the end of each holiday.
- If you would like to sponsor more than one flag, please complete a separate form for each flag; however, you can send one check for the total amount ($40 for each flag). For example, if you choose to sponsor two flags, then please write a check for $80.
Draper Memorial Park occupies a triangle of land in the downtown Milford area, located at the intersection of Congress Street and Main Street. The park features monuments that list the names of veterans who served, as well as those who gave their lives, during World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The park also includes a listing of Milford veterans who served in the Gulf War.
Standing tall in the park is the equestrian statue of General William Franklin Draper. Sculptor Daniel Chester French created the statue in 1912 in collaboration with architect Henry Bacon, who designed the granite pedestal on which the statue stands, as well as the park landscape. French and Bacon partnered again on the iconic Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Other monuments in Draper Memorial Park include the Powers boulder, which features a memorial plaque for Sergeant John W. Powers (a Milford veteran killed in World War I), and the historic Milford milestone, dated 1773, which marked the distance from Milford to Boston.
The care and management of Draper Memorial Park falls under the authority of the Milford Parks Commission and Milford Veterans Services. Citizens for Milford is grateful for both office’s enthusiastic support for this project. Thank you!
The Field of Flags project extends the Salvation Army’s ongoing “Fly the Flag” initiative, which places flags on the front lawns of homes and businesses throughout Milford and Hopedale every Memorial Day, Flag Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, and Veterans Day. To learn more about the Milford Corps of the Salvation Army, visit their website.
Citizens for Milford is also grateful to everyone who volunteers in placing and removing the flags each holiday, including employees of Milford Federal Bank and members of the Milford Junior Woman’s Club.