Volunteers, distant relatives and community members spent a portion of Saturday morning placing 186 Confederate States of America flags on the identified graves of Confederate veterans who are interned at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Suffolk.

For the third consecutive year, the Suffolk Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy along with the Tom Smith Camp 1702 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, came together at the cemetery’s Confederate monument to honor the soldiers from Suffolk who participated in the Civil War.

“These men suffered all, sacrificed all, dared all and died,” said Susan Carraway, president of the Suffolk Chapter 173 UDC during her presentation. “Nothing is gone until it is forgotten and that is why we come here today — to remember.”

Carraway said she looks forward to this event each year and enjoys the chance to honor the area’s historical connection to the Civil War.

“It is an honor to come out here and honor these men who may not have received the recognition they were due,” Carraway said.

Prior to the decorations of the graves, the dozens gathered heard stories of four Confederate veterans who are buried at Cedar Hill and another with connections to the 24th Virginia Calvary.

The graves of the four Suffolk natives, or residents, buried at the cemetery saw refurbished markers placed thanks to the efforts of the Tom Smith Camp.

“Last year we were able to take care of 11 markers,” Carraway said of the Tom Smith Camp’s efforts. “The number has and will fluctuate each year based on what they are able to do and the information they have on some of the veterans.”

The event was also marked by a number of Civil War re-enactors, in authentic Confederate gear, who presented the colors, offered a rifle salute and played taps.

While some of the re-enactors were from Suffolk, others came from Norfolk, and as far away as Elizabeth City, N.C.

“It was a beautiful ceremony,” Carraway said. “It is a special time when we are able to do this each year.”

Historical recounts of the origins of Memorial Day have often been argued, but one gives the birth of the national holiday to groups of women in the South who each year decorated the graves of fallen Confederate troops.

Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868 by General John Logan and first observed on May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.

The small Confederate States of America flags placed on the 186 graves in Cedar Hill Cemetery Saturday now stand aside many others graves in the cemetery properly decorated with the American Flag.