Support Committee for the Alabama National Cemetery

06/12/2026

Yesterday several SCALNC members held a cook-out to show our appreciation for the ALNC VA staff and contractors whose hard work keeps our beloved Alabama National Cemetery in such beautiful condition year-round. We are also grateful for the tremendous support provided before, during, and after Memorial Day and its related events.

Special Kudos to the Red Cross for the Bombas Socks gifted to the ALNC staff and contractors.

We are all fortunate to volunteer with people who put service above self, make time to recognize others, and have a deep respect for our military community. It is an honor to volunteer alongside each of you.

Thank you, Chic, for the wonderful photos posted at our new SCALNC photo storage site. You can view photos from the cook out at the link below.

The Support Committee for the Alabama National Cemetery is a charitable 501c3 all volunteer organization. In futherance of its mission, SCALNC, in consultation with the ALNC director, establishes programs, ceremonies, and other projects not funded by the National Cemetery Administration (NCA) which....

06/06/2026

On this 82nd anniversary of D-Day we remember the brave troops of the invasion which began the liberation of Western Europe. Once again, we share with you the story of one of those heroes who is at rest at ALNC.

During the summer following D-Day, in 1944, the Allies drove the Germans out of much of Europe and back toward Germany. They fought until the war was won. Casualties were so high that some men reported that they did not ...

06/02/2026

Thank you to the approximately 150 volunteers who showed up on Saturday to remove the remaining graveside flags and transport them to our storage building. Due to saturated soil, the wooden shafts are currently too wet for permanent storage. The flags have been placed in open containers to dry, and we will soon reach out for approximately 20 volunteers to help bundle and store them once they are dry. We were racing so quickly to make sure the flags got in for cleaning that we failed to get any photos of our great volunteers. If you have any that you would like to share, please comment and attach your photo or message us with your photo attached. You are all very much appreciated.

05/29/2026

Tomorrow is graveside flag removal day. Calling all volunteers join us at 9 am. Due to cemetery lawn maintenance needs, sections 6, 8 & 9 have already been removed and taken to our storage building and we will need some volunteers to report there to clean, roll and prepare flags for storage.
Remaining sections 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, the Columbarium and Memorial Wall still need to be removed, cleaned and stored so please help if you can.
Please see instructions below for details:
Weather and Safety
Rain is in the forecast for the next 10 days, and there is currently a 25% chance of rain throughout Saturday morning. We will proceed rain or shine. We will stop operations if dangerous weather approaches the cemetery. Please dress appropriately for the conditions.
Flag Removal Instructions
Grasp the wooden shaft below the flag and pull it out smoothly.
Do not pull by the flag itself or by the k**b on top, as the flags come off easily.
If you can, bring a rag to wipe off the flagstick. This will save another volunteer time when the flags are counted and stored.
Courtesy Reminders
Please give visiting family members space, as Saturdays are often busy for visitation.
If a few graves are missed, they can be handled later.
Do not park across from another car on the main circle, as this may block emergency vehicles and disrupt visitation.
Thank You
Your help makes it possible to preserve and store the flags for future use. Many thanks to everyone who helped place the flags—this step is just as important. Please join us if you can. We look forward to volunteering with you.
Eldon Woodie, Chairman SCALNC

05/29/2026

On Wednesday night, several members of the Support Committee attended the Support Our Soldiers of Alabama banquet at Briarwood Presbyterian Church.This organization was started by two of our Gold Star family members, Charon and Tom Rivers, parents of Lance Corporal Thomas Rivers, Jr. who was killed in Afghanistan in 2010. Thomas is at rest in section 8 at ALNC. It was great to see our friends, Homeland who performed beautiful patriotic music. The excellent keynote speaker was Sgt Jeff Struecker, retired whose story was part of the movie Black Hawk Down. Thank you to the Rivers who honor their son's memory by helping current enlisted troops as well as veterans in need.

05/26/2026

Thank you to all who came out yesterday for our 18th Annual Memorial Day Ceremony in spite of the less than ideal weather. We could not do this without the outstanding support of our community. From our volunteers, the cemetery staff, Shelby County, the City of Montevallo, the VA, local churches, VSOs and community organizations, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for our 18th year of remembering and honoring our fallen. As promised, our blog article which summarizes all of our Memorial Day activities is published, along with comprehensive photo galleries of Flag Placement Day and our 18th Annual Memorial Day Ceremony. Please visit our website blog article contains links to both photo galleries as well.

MONTEVALLO, AL – Preparation for this year’s Memorial Day observance began on Saturday, May 21, 2026, when members of the Support Committee gathered at 9 am to put up the Avenue of Flags and prepare graveside flags for S...

05/25/2026

Thank you to the many volunteers who came out on Saturday to place the more than 12,000 flags at the headstones, columbarium and Memorial Wall in honor and remembrance of veterans who are at rest at ALNC. A comprehensive photo gallery (most photos courtesy of Chic Cecchini ) is available on our website at https://scalnc.org/flag-placement-photos
A blog article summarizing our activities leading up to along with today's Memorial Day Ceremony, as well as a photo gallery from today's ceremony will be published soon. Thank you all for your support.

For those who gave all, no gift is too small

05/21/2026

As we begin preparation for Memorial Day, thank you to volunteers who helped this morning to place the Avenue of Flags and prep flag boxes and hole punching tools in readiness for Saturday's Graveside Flag Placement. The cemetery looks beautiful thanks to the grounds crew and we are proud to see the new service flags flying at the end of the Avenue of Flags. These flags and the new flag poles were donated to the cemetery by the Support Committee.
We also thank all who came to this morning's Alabama Tribute to American Patriots Ceremony. The purpose of this ceremony was to render military honors to our military heroes who were interred at ALNC this year but did not receive military honor at the time of their interment. Thanks to the ALNC staff, 35 US Army, 6 US Navy, 20 US Air Force, 1 US Marines, and 2 US Coast Guard received the honors that they deserve. To their families, we say thank you for your loved one's service and sacrifice.

05/20/2026

Tomorrow, in this week leading up to Memorial Day Monday, the wonderful Alabama National Cemetery staff will hold their annual tribute to American Patriots (TAPS) Ceremony to provide military honors to Veterans interred at Alabama National Cemetery during the last year who for whatever reason did not receive military honors at the time of their interment.

The ceremony will include Posting of Colors, Invocation, Reading of Names with Ringing of Bell, Flag Folding and playing of Taps.

When: May 21, 2026, at 10:15 AM

Where: Alabama National Cemetery
Committal Shelter #1

The Public Invited