An Alabama church spent Memorial Day planting one flag in their front yard for every soldier who died during the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.

Grace Place Church of Enterprise, Alabama said that each of the 6,809 flags was paid for from donations from private citizens and church members who wanted to remind the community of the true and heavy cost of freedom.

“Freedom isn’t free,” Pastor Donny Thrasher told The Christian Post.  “It often is paid for with the lives of our military.”

Thrasher said that churches should be leading the way in honoring the families of those men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom to worship Christ openly by making sure their loved ones left behind have their needs met.  All funds raised for the flags above the actual cost was donated to a charity that provides for the widows and families of slain soldiers.

“No people in the world are as free as we are to worship without fear of reprisal,” Thrasher said.  “That freedom to worship and serve our Lord and Savior is protected and paid for by our military.”