Kim Compton’s 7th grade social studies class (World History) at Bamberg Ehrhardt Middle School placed American flags at SouthEnd Cemetery in memory of veterans of WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam for Memorial Day.

“I try to instill in my students a sense of patriotism and an appreciation for those who have fought for us as a nation and as citizens,” said Compton.

Ninety students were divided into groups of 10 and each group was assigned a section of the cemetery. They placed approximately 100 American flags on veteran’s graves. The 90 students went on a field trip to the courthouse, 911 dispatch, the Sheriffs Dept., the SouthEnd Cemetery, and the Ness Sports Complex. “When the students studied Vietnam, they went online at www.virtualwall.org

There are two soldiers from Bamberg that are listed on The Wall: 2LT Ivars Lama and CPL Jerry Melton Still.

Each student was required to visit these particular graves and answer a question about their tombstones.

“I took the students to SouthEnd Cemetery this year because there are many veterans of the wars that we study that are buried here,” said Compton.

Each student was given the materials to do a grave (tombstone) rubbing of his/her choice. Some students did rubbings of family members while some did rubbings of the two soldiers (Ivars Lama and Jerry Melton Still. Other students chose to do rubbings of tombstones that happened to be of interest to them.

Compton said they tried to put a flag on the grave of every veteran, but it is very possible that they missed someone.

“If you find that we missed any, please contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or 245-1018 and I will personally make sure that the veteran is honored with a flag. I plan to make this a tradition with my students. I am a very patriotic American and hope to pass on the appreciation of those who have sacrificed for our nation a part of my students’ lives.”