Lehighton Area Middle School students will launch a new program to honor military service Friday afternoon.

Operation Never Forget will detail the lives and military service of two Lehighton area men, Ezra Kreiss and Walter Haydt.This is the 70th anniversary of the Lehighton Legion Post naming their post the "Shoemaker-Haydt" Post in part in honor of Walter Haydt's sacrifice.Surviving members of both the Kreiss and Haydt family will be in attendance for the Memorial Day ceremony.Students at the school have been busy raising money for the program."All the students pitch in and collect money of their own, and give at least 50 cents or more," fifth-grader Leilani McClure said.The mission of the newly formed Operation Never Forget Club is to identify and research Lehighton area military personnel, and ensure that their graves receive decorating on Memorial Day, club adviser Ron Rabenold said."In this way, students will appreciate our rich military history, as well as understand the important civic lessons of giving something for a greater, unseen good, as countless service personnel have done throughout our area's history," Rabenold said.Through their efforts, the graves of Haydt in Nebraska, and of Kreiss, in England, will have flowers on them.Additionally, fresh-cut flowers will be made available to the public at the main Lehighton Memorial Day Cemetery Ceremony on Monday, which Rabenold said marks the first time this has ever been done."I've attended many Memorial Day Services over the years, and have heard military personnel make comments about the lack of flowers thrown during the segment of the program where the 'children will now strew flowers onto the graves,'" he said."We are hoping Operation Never Forget will become a new tradition for Lehighton, so that our soldiers will forever know our community will not forget the service they gave so that we all can enjoy the blessings they ensured for all of us. This is the least we can do."Rabenold said, "The Lehighton Area Middle School family hopes that these families can feel a sense of gratitude from our community for the terrible loss their family endured over 70 years ago."