By 
May 25, 2026
At 4 a.m. on Memorial Day, while most of Huntsville is still asleep, two City employees quietly begin one of the most meaningful duties of the year.
General Services employees Mike Jones and Douglas Bushyeager do not consider themselves tradition keepers, but on this national holiday, they carry out a solemn responsibility that ensures the City properly honors America’s fallen service members.
The men will lower the American flag at municipal facilities across Huntsville to half-staff in remembrance of those who died in military service.
Their pre-dawn day begins at Veterans Memorial Park – one of Huntsville’s most revered and symbolic public spaces.
General Services employees Mike Jones and Douglas Bushyeager work in tandem to ensure each flag is lowered to its proper mark
With practiced precision, the duo unlocks the mechanisms and prepares the flags for the transition. Bushyeager manages the ropes while Jones serves as the “spotter,” ensuring each flag reaches the proper mark.
At sunrise, precisely 5:36 a.m., Jones and Bushyeager lower the American flag, the State of Alabama flag and the POW/MIA flag to half-staff.
“I come from a military family,” Bushyeager said. “It’s an honor to do this.”
Douglas Bushyeager carefully lowers the American flag at Veterans Memorial Park in downtown Huntsville. He will be back to raise the flag to full-staff at noon.
From there, the men begin driving across Huntsville, lowering flags at City facilities while most residents are preparing for cookouts, lake trips and holiday gatherings.
The work is quiet and largely unseen, but the employees understand its significance.
The flags at Veterans Memorial are the largest they handle all day, and the most meaningful.
“You think about what this place represents,” Jones said. “These are people who gave everything for this country. We want to make sure we honor that the right way.”
The tradition follows federal flag code. Flags remain at half-staff until noon on Memorial Day to symbolize mourning for the nation’s fallen. At midday, the flags are returned to full-staff to represent the nation’s resolve and enduring spirit.
“We start here and move to the other City facilities with flags – about 20 in all,” Jones said. “Typically, the flags remain at half-staff until sunset, but Memorial Day is special.”
Mike Jones inspects his work before moving on to the next location.
By midday, while many Huntsville families are settling into their Memorial Day celebrations, Jones and Bushyeager will begin the process again, raising each flag carefully back to full-staff.
There are no crowds watching them work. Most people will never know who lowered the flags they pass throughout the day. But in many ways, their quiet commitment reflects the true spirit of Memorial Day itself – humble service carried out with respect, gratitude and remembrance.
Calling their work “an honor,” this General Services team will lower and raise about 20 flags this Memorial Day holiday.
