On Veterans Day, volunteers typically gather at Riverside National Cemetery in California to place flags on more than 300,000 graves. But not this year.
The longest federal government shutdown on record is restricting and completely canceling parades, ceremonies and other events across the United States that normally mark Veterans Day.
It is another consequence of the closure that military families who are worried about their salaries were already fully feeling.
In California, “A Flag for Every Hero” organizers said they could not go ahead with Tuesday's event without access to bathrooms, traffic control and other necessities for the thousands of participants.
Elsewhere, a lack of federal employees and access to military facilities has canceled other Veterans Day events.
“We have a responsibility to provide them with the resources they need and unfortunately with the shutdown we can't do that,” Laura Herzog, founder and executive director of Honoring Our Fallen, which is hosting the event at Riverside National Cemetery.
Many communities will continue to hold Veterans Day gatherings, including some of the largest and best-known events in the country, such as the annual celebration at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia and the Veterans Day Parade in New York.
The disruption of a federal holiday meant to honor those who have served in the armed forces comes as military families face uncertainty week after week about their pay. The Trump administration has found ways to pay troops twice since the shutdown began on October 1.
The Texas National Cemetery Foundation canceled an annual Veterans Day event at the Dallas-Fort Worth cemetery, saying organizers would not have time to stage the ceremony even if the shutdown ended soon. In Virginia, Hampton city leaders expressed concern about the lack of service members to participate in their annual parade due to the shutdown.
“Our veterans deserve to be recognized with great pomp and circumstance,” Hampton City Manager Mary Bunting said in a news release. “Without the presence of our active duty military, we are concerned that the parade will appear sparse and that the recognition will fall short of the honor our veterans so richly deserve.”
Organizers of Detroit's annual Veterans Day parade say they will go ahead with Sunday's event, but it will not include an appearance by a U.S. Army band or a helicopter flyover. Others are relying on more volunteer help than usual to make up for a lack of federal resources.
Despite the turmoil, some communities are still trying to find ways to honor veterans even as events are canceled.
In Mississippi, the Gulf Coast Veterans Association canceled its annual parade in Pass Christian. But the group said it would use funds from the event to provide Thanksgiving dinners for veterans and active-duty members.
“While we share the disappointment, we choose to turn this setback into a blessing,” the group said in a Facebook post.
When U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales learned that the Veterans Day ceremony at Fort Sam Houston Cemetery in San Antonio would not take place, the Republican congressman's office set about organizing the annual event.
Gonzales, a Navy veteran whose grandfather is buried in the cemetery, said that meant working with nonprofit organizations to find someone to sing the national anthem and providing chairs for attendees.
“We honor our veterans no matter what, and that's exactly what we did,” Gonzales said.
