Memorial Day weekend: a time to honor fallen US veterans. According to The Associated Press, for this year's Memorial day weekend, the nation marked it with somber ceremonies, with flags planted at cemeteries and parades. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama made a surprise trip to Afghanistan to visit U.S. troops residing there.
WJLA reports that Obama arrived at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan to speak with troops and visit soldiers being treated at a base hospital. According to report, at least 2,181 members of the U.S. military have died during the nearly 13-year Afghan war, and thousands more have been wounded. Obama has reportedly directed all government agencies in the United States to fly their flags at half-staff on Monday in observance of Memorial Day weekend.
Petty Officer 1st Class Brian McNeal said parades and even barbecues must be considered an American pastime that should be enjoyed this Memorial Day weekend. 39-year-old McNeal said, "I'm in the service so that they can enjoy that. They made the sacrifice so everyday citizens don't have to worry about the evils of the world." McNeal is stationed in Suffolk, Virginia, and is in town for Fleet Week.
KSDK reports that in New York City, the U.S. Marine Corps' chaplain gave a sermon on Sunday at the Marble Collegiate Church. He praised veterans around the world for their sacrifices. Worshippers reportedly tied memorial ribbons on the church's fence after the sermon on Memorial Day weekend in honor of fallen soldiers since the Iraq War began. There will also be gold ribbons for service members killed in Afghanistan, green ribbons representing prayers for peace and blue ribbons for the people of Afghanistan, according to The AP.
Rear Admiral Margaret Kibben also told the roughly 200 worshippers Sunday at the Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan, including active duty servicemen and women in town for the annual Fleet Week celebration, "What they have done has allowed us to be here." She said that the Memorial Day weekend was a time to remind ourselves of the meaning of sacrifice and to put personal struggles and difficulties in perspective.
In Chicago on Saturday, democratic congresswoman Tammy Duckworth reportedly served as grand marshal of Chicago's Memorial Day Parade and struggled to hold back tears during the ceremony. Duckworth lost her legs and partial use of an arm when a rocket-propelled grenade hit the Black Hawk helicopter she was piloting in Iraq in 2004.
As those events happened in New York and Chicago, in Massachusetts, a Boston Marathon survivor and his rescuer allegedly helped plant tens upon thousands upon of flags at a cemetery in order to honor fallen soldiers on Memorial Day weekend.
Memorial Day weekend happenings and ceremonies have been held as well in other parts of the coutry in honor of fallen soldiers and unsung heroes of our time.
To watch a report of the Memorial Day weekend, see video below.
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