Standing in formation, 150 cadets from the Washington State Academy attentively listened to their morning orders: to place hundreds of small U.S. flags at the graves of veterans buried at Miller-Woodlawn Memorial Park in Bremerton.

The cadets quietly fanned out across the dewey grass, bundles of flags in-hand.

Cadre supervisor First Lt. Steve Wood watched the young men and women do their work. Wood retired from the Navy last year after 22 years. He served aboard Ohio-class submarines.

“Our cadets here, they’re required to meet service community hours for giving back to the community,” Wood said.

His goal was to instill in the cadets a sense of selfless giving and to pay respect to veterans.

When the flags were placed, the cadets re-formed for the Nov. 8 ceremony to honor veterans, including 17 buried at Miller-Woodlawn who died in combat, and Medal of Honor recipient Bud Hawk, who is also buried there.

A wreath was placed by the cadets near the USS Bremerton memorial and a bell was rung as the 17 names were read.

A great crack filled the air as the Suquamish Warriors veterans service group fired a 21-gun salute. Retired Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Glenn Gray played a mournful taps.

A few moments later, Gray chatted with fellow veterans.

“Semper Fi,” Gray exclaimed. “Oorah!”

Diane Naples watched the veterans tribute. She works as a guidance counselor for the cadets.

“What’s most amazing to me is the respect that they build into them,” Naples said.

The cadets are quick to address one as “sir,” for example, and followed directions promptly.

“They learn how to lead and how hard it is to lead,” she said, and how to deal with life’s inevitable disappointments and challenges.

The aim of the academy is to provide at-risk youth with a safe, disciplined and professional learning environment to help them graduate from high school.

The quasi-military group is two-thirds boys and one-third girls ages 16-18 years. They stay with the program for five and a half months, but a mentoring program continues afterward.

The cadets’ work wasn’t over, Wood said. After the ceremony he said they would be bussed to the Kitsap County fairgrounds to set up 1,200 chairs for the Veterans Day event there.