Honoring America’s fallen heroes on Memorial Day
Planting flags, laying wreaths and gathering at solemn ceremonies were among the ways Americans observed Memorial Day. The day to honor those killed serving their country was established 145 years ago. It became a federal holiday in 1971.
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- Mason Krimm, 9, of Lutherville, reads the inscriptions on grave markers as he walks through Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens before a Memorial Day observance. Both of his grandfathers and great-grandfathers served in the military. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- Theresa Mills (right) of Laurel hugs Amanda Nelson of White Marsh at the conclusion of the Memorial Day Observance at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens. Nelson’s husband, Tim Nelson, in background, served with Mills’ son, Marines Lance Cpl. Eugene C. Mills III. Mills was killed in Afghanistan June 22, 2012 and is one of seven Marylanders killed in action over the last year. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- Sgt. Keith DeFontes, Maryland Army National Guard, plays “Taps” during the Memorial Day Observance at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- Lynn Coffland, president and founder of Catch A Lift Fund,sits with Col. Sean Lee, State Area Command Chaplain, Maryland National Guard, after she spoke at the Memorial Day Observance at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens. Catch A Lift Fund is an organization she started as a memorial to her brother, Cpl. Chris Coffland, who died in Afghanistan in 2009. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- Seymour Kirzner (right) of New York watches as Naval officers file in at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument at the start of a Memorial Day service on the Upper West Side of New York. (Carlo Allegri/Reuters)
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- A U.S. Marine walks alongside a woman through Section 60, the area of the cemetery primarily for members of the military killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, during Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery. (Saul Loebsaul Loeb/AFP Photo/Getty Images)
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- World War II merchant Marine veteran James Van Splunder of Holland, N.Y., salutes during a ceremony on Memorial Day at the World War II Memorial in Washington. (Yuri Gripas/Reuters)
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- Members of the military stand before the Tomb of the Unknown at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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- President Barack Obama positions a commemorative wreath during a ceremony on Memorial Day at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider at Arlington National Cemetery. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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- A member of the U.S. Army Old Guard stands guard Monday at the Tomb of the Unknown at Arlington National Cemetery. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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- Residents and volunteers in Moore, Oklahoma observed the Memorial Day holiday by continuing to recover valuables from neighborhoods destroyed by the May 20 tornado. (Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
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- Barry Ebersberger, who sponsored a flag on behalf of his uncle, veteran Irwin Horst, walks among the 500 flags in the Field of Honor, on display through Memorial Day at the Charlestown Retirement Community. The money raised from sponsorships of the flags benefits the Wounded Warrior Project and Charlestown’s Benevelont Care. The event, which included a ceremony on Saturday attended by about 300 people, is sponsored by the Hubbard Funeral Home and Charlestown. (Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun)
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- Jo Ann Malpass, Charlestown resident and a volunteer, walks among the 500 flags in the Field of Honor, on display through Memorial Day at the Charlestown Retirement Community. The money raised from sponsorships of the flags benefits the Wounded Warrior Project and Charlestown’s Benevelont Care. The event, which included a ceremony on Saturday attended by about 300 people, is sponsored by the Hubbard Funeral Home and Charlestown. (Amy Davis/ Baltimore Sun)
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- Fire fighters salute the flag at the start of the annual Memorial Day ceremony at Laurel’s historic Ivy Hill Cemetery on Sunday, May 26, 2013. (Noah Scialom/Patuxent Publishing)
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- Laurel’s Chief of Police Trey Kelso speaks at the podium during the annual Memorial Day ceremony at Laurel’s historic Ivy Hill Cemetery on Sunday, May 26, 2013. (Noah Scialom/Patuxent Publishing)
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- Visitors walk amongst the graves of soldiers who fell during World War II during services to mark US Memorial Day at the Manila American Cemetery in Fort Bonifacio in Manila on May 26, 2013. At least 17,000 graves are in the park that pays tribute to US and Philippines soldiers that fought side-by-side during World War II. The US marks Memorial Day on May 27. (Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images)
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- A woman looks at the grave of a soldier who fell during World War II, during services to mark US Memorial Day at the Manila American Cemetery in Fort Bonifacio in Manila on May 26, 2013. At least 17,000 graves are in the park that pays tribute to US and Philippines soldiers that fought side-by-side during World War II. The US marks Memorial Day on May 27. (Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images)
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- A woman walks amongst the graves of soldiers who fell during World War II, searching for a grave of a relative during a service to mark US Memorial Day at the Manila American Cemetery in Fort Bonifacio in Manila on May 26, 2013. At least 17,000 graves are in the park that pays tribute to US and Philippines soldiers that fought side-by-side during World War II. The US marks Memorial Day on May 27. (Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images)
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- Members of the U.S. military veterans’ Rolling Thunder bikers group parade in Washington on May 26, 2013 as the country marks Memorial Day. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)
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- A man salutes as members of the U.S. military veterans’ Rolling Thunder bikers group ride past in Washington on May 26, 2013 as the country marks Memorial Day. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)
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- Two women hold up signs thanking the troops as members of the U.S. military veterans’ Rolling Thunder bikers group ride past in Washington on May 26, 2013 as the country marks Memorial Day. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)
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- Young girls wave American flags as they cheer hundreds of thousands of motorcyclists in Fairfax, Virginia, gathering on Memorial Day weekend for the 26th Annual Rolling Thunder Rally to remember POWs and MIAs from America’s wars, in Washington, May 26, 2013. (Mike Theiler/Reuters)
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- Motorcycle riders (L-R) Doug and Diane Frame and Walter and Deanna Lyons of Manassas, Virginia, hold posters of fallen U.S. military personnel as they await the arrival of hundreds of thousands of motorcyclists in Fairfax, Virginia, gathering on Memorial Day weekend for the 26th Annual Rolling Thunder Rally to remember POWs and MIAs from America’s wars, in Washington, May 26, 2013. (Mike Theiler/Reuters)
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- A floral wreath from a motorcycle group is seen as hundreds of thousands of motorcycle riders rode on Memorial Day weekend for the 26th Annual Rolling Thunder Rally to remember POWs and MIAs from America’s wars, in Washington, May 26, 2013. (Mike Theiler/Reuters)
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- U.S. Army veteran Bob LeBlanc of Berkshire Hills, Massachusetts, stands at attention as he views the name of a fallen soldier from his hometown on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, as he joins hundreds of thousands of motorcycle riders on Memorial Day weekend for the 26th Annual Rolling Thunder Rally to remember POWs and MIAs from America’s wars, in Washington, May 26, 2013. (Mike Theiler/Reuters)
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- Motorcycle rider Andy Andersen of Newnan, Georgia, a Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, displays his pins and patches as he stands at attention for the playing of the National Anthem in Fairfax, Virginia, as he prepares to join hundreds of thousands of other motorcycle riders gathering on Memorial Day weekend for the 26th Annual Rolling Thunder Rally to remember POWs and MIAs from America’s wars, in Washington, May 26, 2013. (Mike Theiler/Reuters)
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- Carlos Varon pays respect to war fallen soldiers while he places flags at graves at Cypress Hills National Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York May 25, 2013. The annual “Flags-In” ceremony is held ahead of Memorial Day to honor the nation’s fallen members of the military. Flags will be placed at more than 220,000 graves. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)
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- A man places a flag at a grave at Cypress Hills National Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York May 25, 2013. The annual “Flags-In” ceremony is held ahead of Memorial Day to honor the nation’s fallen members of the military. Flags will be placed at more than 220,000 graves. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)
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- Carlos Varon pays respect to war fallen soldiers while he places flags at graves at Cypress Hills National Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York May 25, 2013. The annual “Flags-In” ceremony is held ahead of Memorial Day to honor the nation’s fallen members of the military. Flags will be placed at more than 220,000 graves. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)
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- A Boy Scout walks past gravesites of U.S. military veterans at the Los Angeles National Cemetery during a flag placement event to commemorate Memorial Day weekend in Los Angeles, California, May 25, 2013. (Jonathan Alcorn/Reuters)
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- Members of a Mariner Girl Scout troop salute at gravesites of U.S. military veterans at the Los Angeles National Cemetery during a flag placement event to commemorate Memorial Day weekend in Los Angeles, California, May 25, 2013. (Jonathan Alcorn/Reuters)
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- The U.S. national flag composed of flowers is placed near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall etched with names of more than 58,000 U.S. servicemen and women who died in the war, in Washington May 23, 2013. Memorial Day will fall on May 27 this year. (Yuri Gripas/Reuters)
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- A woman takes pictures of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall, etched with the names of more than 58,000 U.S. servicemen and women who died in the war, in Washington May 23, 2013. Memorial Day falls on May 27 this year. (Yuri Gripas/Reuters)
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- A soldier from the Third U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) carries flags to be placed beside graves at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia May 23, 2013. The annual “Flags-In” ceremony is held ahead of Memorial Day to honor the nation’s fallen members of the military. Flags will be placed at more than 220,000 graves. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
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- Members of the Fife and Drum Corps of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, “The Old Guard,” participate in a “Flags-In” ceremony May 23, 2013 at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. A small American flag was placed one foot in front of more than 220,000 graves in the cemetery to mark the Memorial Day. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
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- Soldiers in the Third U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) place a small American flag one foot in front and centered before each grave marker for more than 220,000 graves during the annual Flags-In ceremony in advance of Memorial Day to honor the nation’s fallen members of the military May 23, 2013 in Arlington Cemetery, Virginia. (Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/MCT)
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