A longtime Memorial Day weekend tradition to honor veterans is now canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, but Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone on Sunday urged the Department of Veterans Affairs to reconsider.

«It’s incredibly important this Memorial Day weekend that we take the opportunity to honor the fallen heroes,» Bellone said on «America’s News HQ.» «We have thousands of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts that do this every year and they place these flags, and you’re really teaching the next generation the importance of sacrifice and what that means.»

BOY SCOUTS BANNED FROM PLANTING AMERICAN FLAGS ON VETERANS’ GRAVES

For decades, the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and other groups have devoted part of the holiday to place small American flags at the graves of veterans and those who have given the ultimate sacrifice as a way to honor the country’s war heroes.

Due to COVID-19, the VA has prohibited public events at the sites, barring the mass flag placements.

Bellone’s district, where over 500,000 veterans are buried at two national military cemeteries, is prepared to take the necessary safety precautions this year to continue the annual tradition, he explained, urging the VA to rescind the national ban and allow local health departments to handle the decision instead.

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«I think it’s critically important, even in the midst of this COVID-19 crisis, that we do this,» he told anchor Eric Shawn.

«Flags In,» an annual event during which a small American flag is placed in front of over 240,000 headstones of U.S. service members buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, in 2019. (​​​​​REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque, File)

The U.S. National Cemetery Administration, the federal agency within the VA operating the sites, told Fox News in a statement that in the case of Suffolk County’s location, «Long Island has not yet met the state criteria for reopening, which is why limits on social gatherings on Long Island are still in place.»

Bellone said it would be a «perverse situation» if many New York beaches opened in time for Memorial Day weekend as planned, «yet the weekend we set aside to honor men and women who sacrifice for the country, we can’t figure out a way to simply place an American flag at their graves.»

NY, NJ CT, DE TO REOPEN BEACHES BY MEMORIAL DAY, CUOMO SAYS

He continued, «New York City… we’ve been at the heart of this… and it’s been devastating economically, the loss of life, but we’ve begun to reopen.»

Bellone urged the VA, «If we can do this, it’ll be a real shot in the arm, lift people’s spirits and send a message that we are coming back as a community, as a state and as a nation.»

Fox News’ Eric Shawn contributed to this report.

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