T-L Photo/GAGE VOTA Concentrated Conduct Adjustment Program students Patrick Lashare, on left, and Dokes Davis place flags on veterans graves at Morristown Cemetery in preparation for Memorial Day.

MORRISTOWN — Ten Concentrated Conduct Adjustment Program and CrossFit For Change students helped American Legion Post 312 place American flags at military graves across Belmont County cemeteries.

Wednesday marked the third year the students have helped the Legion ahead of Memorial Day.

Students and veterans placed more than 700 flags across five cemeteries in Belmont County, including cemeteries in Belmont, Morristown, Centerville, Chapel Hill and Chestnut Level.

CrossFit For Change is a workout program involving five probation officers who exercise with students at Ohio Valley CrossFit and the Ohio Valley Mall. C-CAP Director Noah Atkinson said the program gives students a chance to let off steam, have a positive influence on one another and improve physically and mentally.

C-CAP is a program for at-risk youth to get a second chance instead of going to Sargus Juvenile Detention Center. The program gives students opportunities for life-skills programming, community service and extra encouragement in the right direction.

Post Commander John Waugh said the C-CAP program is a godsend to the Legion.

“This means the world to us. Our legs are gone, and these kids’ legs are so fresh, and it’s such an honor to walk with them as they put the flags up, ask questions, and we tell them the experiences that we’ve had and things that they don’t hear in the classroom,” Waugh said. “In my opinion, the reason the Legion is here is to honor the ones who give the sacrifice, and these kids help us honor those ones to give everything to give us our freedom.”

Atkinson added the partnership with the Legion allows students to provide meaningful community service.

“It’s a rewarding experience for the kids to be able to do this, because they walk with the veterans and get the history lesson and real-life experiences that they might not get in their history class,” Atkinson said. “It’s important because, one, the kids will be able to give back in a rewarding way. We get to help out the Legion. I know they have some older members, and we’re able to be the legs for them, so they don’t have to get out there and do it themselves.”

He added that it is an honor for the program to give back to the community by helping place flags to honor veterans who died ahead of Memorial Day.

Atkinson said he wants students to understand the sacrifices veterans made by putting their lives on the line for their country and freedom. He added he also wants them to see what is at stake when they make bad decisions because if someone goes to a detention center, their freedoms are gone.

“This helps the kids gain their community service hours that might have been ordered by the judge. We have some kids that are just volunteering on their own, that’s on probation with us, and we have some of our CrossFit For Change kids here to assist,” Atkinson said. “We break out into multiple groups to cover the cemeteries at one time to help the Legion faster.”

On Memorial Day, the village of Belmont will hold a parade at 9:30 a.m. leading to a ceremony at Belmont Cemetery.

Belmont County Commissioner J.P. Dutton will serve as the ceremony’s keynote speaker, with the Union Local High School Band providing music.

“It’s just a little ceremony to honor the veterans that gave everything,” Waugh said.