BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – This Valentine’s Day love isn’t just in the air, it’s also on the ground—480 times.
“To show citizens how much we do care about our veterans and also to let them know that we honor and respect the service that they’ve given to us because there are people who have never been honored before,” said Elena Branzaru, the chair for the Mayor’s Advisory Council on Veteran Affairs.
Branzaru created Hearts for Heroes as a way to recognize and honor all East Baton Rouge Parish active-duty service members and veterans.
“Having the benefit of writing this person’s name on a heart and looking at it and planting these hearts on the ground brings some life to people that may no longer be here,” said Branzaru.
It’s not just love either.
“Gratitude, sacrifice,” said Keri Hart. “It’s really beautiful because you look at each and every one of these hearts and know that they put their lives on the line and serve our country everyday so we can have the freedoms that we have today and so it’s really humbling and heartwarming to see.”
Keri Hart is here for her late husband’s heart, Casey. He served 14 years with the Baton Rouge Police Department and 24 years with the United States Army. Casey died overseas on a deployment in Syria almost three years ago, but Keri said this helps keep his memory alive.
“Things like this really help us with our grieving process and also being able to like I said just honor him and his service and sacrifice,” said Hart.
And what better way to share that kind of love than on Valentine’s Day.
“Everybody has a hero that they love and respect,” said Branzaru. “Everybody has a veteran that they love and respect and what better way to show something outside of Memorial Day or outside Veterans Day.”
“Our last name is Hart,” said Keri. “So, we kinda laughed and jokes that it’s kind of our day, but we were happy to come out here and be able to find Casey’s heart and honor him today on Valentine’s Day.”
You can stop by the plaza outside of city hall to see the hearts now through Friday afternoon. Families of the service members get to take their hearts home with them.
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