WASHINGTON, Pa. — The government shutdown is now affecting local Veterans Day commemorations.
The National Cemetery of the Alleghenies said, due to a lack of funding, Tuesday’s Veterans Day ceremony has been canceled.
Federal employees haven’t been paid in over a month, but their work hasn’t stopped. They’re still maintaining the grounds at the national cemetery and laying 9 veterans to rest each day, Monday through Friday.
This year, because of the shutdown, the Avenue of the Flags isn’t happening either. That’s when flags, which once draped caskets, line the roadway that winds through the cemetery.
“We put our life on the line, that’s not right,” Blaine Carter tells Channel 11.
Blaine Carter followed in his dad, Arthur Carter’s, footsteps and became a Marine.
Every year on November 10, the Marine Corps’ birthday, he visits his dad’s grave.
“We’re always forgotten,” Carter says. “We’re the ones who make this possible for us to be out here enjoying life the way we do.”
He says it’s also not fair to the federal workers who aren’t being paid.
“These guys are taking care of us who took care of the country,” Carter added. “They deserve more. You can shut down the government if you want but pay these guys.”
Tammy King brings flowers to her husband, James King’s, grave every Veterans Day. She says every year when the stage is set and a thousand people gather to honor our veterans, she feels proud. But this year, she says everything feels empty.
“It just makes me feel awful,” King tells Channel 11. “The whole situation right now.”
Federal employees Channel 11 spoke with who haven’t been paid in over a month say they’re looking forward to the shutdown ending and Memorial Day commemorations to honor our local vets and their families.
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