More than 1,000 military service members, family members, and other guests gathered at the Quantico National Cemetery for a Memorial Day Ceremony on Monday.
During the ceremony, retired United States Navy Four-Star Admiral John Harvey said, “We must remember our soldiers, sailors, airman, and Marines, who sacrificed and gave their lives for us to be free.”
Memorial Day was first recognized and celebrated in 1868, and was mean to be a day for “strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country,” according to a release.
At the ceremony at the Quantico National Cemetery several veterans and service members spoke, VFW Post 7916 had other area VFW Posts formed a special Color Guard, and the Marine Corps Rifle Team did the “21-Gun Salute”.
The Quantico National Ceremony has been hosting the Memorial Day Ceremony since 1983.
“This year, the wet weather left water soaked fields and the ceremony had to be moved to a smaller, but dry, location,” stated a release.
