Memorial Day tributes nationwide - Military News | News From Afghanistan, Iraq And Around The World - Military Times

Memorial Day tributes nationwide

A sampling of Memorial Day activities and remembrances around the country:

‘The best of America’

Barack Obama made his first Memorial Day speech as president after participating in a solemn holiday tradition, laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery, the burial ground for American veterans dating to the Revolutionary War.

Roll call in Riverside

Nearly 150,000 names, representing the entire veteran population of California’s Riverside National Cemetery, are read aloud over 10 days by more than 300 volunteers.

Sacrifice for a second home

Immigrants have a proud tradition of military service. Read the story of one such soldier, a native of Peru who became a U.S. citizen through the military and gave his life for his new nation.

The Wall adds another name

Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Enrique Valdez’s death in 1994 was attributed to crippling injuries he suffered in Vietnam in 1969. His family won a long battle to have his name join 58,260 others who gave all.

Guardians of the fallen

Workers at the National Cemetery in Biloxi, Miss. — many of them veterans — take pride in their continued service.

Returning home

An Oklahoma-based Army unit’s Memorial Day homecoming includes tributes to its members who died in Iraq.

Monument to sacrifice

An Alabama town honors a 22-year-old staff sergeant killed in Iraq.