An additional 1,000 flags are expected to be added to this year's Healing Field memorial in Cathedral City.

Volunteers are planning to mount a total of more than 5,000 six-foot-tall American flags at Patriot Park for this year's commemorative event.

The Healing field honors military personnel killed in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

According to the Department of Defense, 5,231 total military deaths are attributed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as of Nov. 2, with October as the deadliest month for U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Last year, the Healing Field displayed 4,230 flags.

“It makes it more real. The numbers just add up and just think, the first year we did (the Healing Field) we planted 2,800 flags and four years later we have almost doubled it,” said Sue Priest, an event organizer.

It is the fourth consecutive year that the park will be transformed into a sea of red, white and blue along one of Cathedral City's busiest corridors.

Each flag will be tagged with a deceased service member's name, age, hometown and branch of service. Four of the flags will honor service members with ties to the Coachella Valley.

Organizers have been planning the event for six months, securing permits, coordinating volunteers and collecting information on the casualties, Priest said.

The long list of people and organizations helping represents a west valley effort. The Cathedral City High School ROTC squad, Palm Springs American Legion, Desert Riders motorcycle club, Cathedral City fire and police departments and the Cathedral City Rotary Club are among the volunteers.

Forest Lawn will send a bugler to play “Taps.”

The total number of volunteers is in the “hundreds,” Priest said.

Event sponsors include Burrtec Waste of Palm Desert; Green, de Bortnowsky & Quintanilla LLP; North American Van Lines; Big League Dreams and Forest Lawn.

There are also numerous smaller donors, said Cathedral City Councilman Greg Pettis, who was involved in raising funds for the event.

The total cost for this year's event was $30,000, which was mostly paid by the sponsors and with in-kind services, Pettis said.