VA Honors Military Sacrifice on Memorial Day
From parades to somber ceremonies and a
moment of silence, Americans will recall the sacrifices of military
personnel who paid the ultimate price for freedom on Memorial Day,
Monday, May 31.
“Those fallen heroes we honor this Memorial Day answered their call to
duty, and in so doing, they honored us,” said Secretary of Veterans
Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “We owe them our deep and profound gratitude.
We must pass that sense of obligation to the next generation.”
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will continue its annual
tradition of hosting services at most of its national cemeteries and
many other facilities nationwide. The programs, which are the focus of
Memorial Day events in many communities, honor the service of deceased
Veterans and military members who die on active duty.
President Obama will speak at VA’s Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in
Elwood, Ill., near Chicago, on Monday. Vice President Biden will lead
the observance at Arlington National Cemetery, with VA Deputy Secretary
W. Scott Gould in attendance.
For the dates and times of Memorial Day weekend programs at VA national
cemeteries, visit www.cem.va.gov <http://www.cem.va.gov/> .
More than 100,000 people are expected to attend activities at VA’s
national cemeteries, with color guards, readings, bands and choir
performances. Events will honor about one million men and women who
died in the military during wartime, including about 655,000 battle
deaths.
Some national cemetery observances are unique.
At VA’s Great Lakes National Cemetery, near Dearborn, Mich., Memorial
Day will begin when a horse-drawn caisson brings a flag-draped coffin
holding the cremated remains of 17 Veterans long unclaimed by families
or friends for burial with full military honors.
Those Michigan Veterans fought in wars from World War II to Vietnam.
Thanks to the Dearborn Allied War Veterans’ Council, whose members
worked for months to match identities with military records, the 17
Veterans’ remains are moving from shelves in local funeral homes to
their final rest in honored grounds.
On May 30, at Riverside, Calif., National Cemetery –VA’s busiest –
volunteers will read aloud the names of more than 5,500 people who were
buried there since last year’s Memorial Day.
VA maintains approximately three million gravesites at its 131 national
cemeteries and has the potential to provide six million graves on more
than 19,000 acres. In 2009, VA conducted more than 106,000 burials in
its national cemeteries. The number of annual interments is expected to
increase for the next three years. This year’s budget for VA national
cemetery operation and construction is $417 million.
Information about Memorial Day, including its history, can be found at
www.va.gov/opa/speceven/memday/.
VA is a cosponsor with the White House Commission on Remembrance of an
annual Moment of Remembrance at 3 p.m., local time, nationwide on
Memorial Day, a time to pause and reflect on the sacrifice of America’s
fallen warriors and the freedoms that unite Americans. Many
institutions will announce a pause in their activities — from sporting
events to public facilities — to call the nation together in a bond of
silence.
Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day when the tradition of
decorating Civil War graves began in 1866. It still brings loved ones
to the graves of the deceased, often with flowers as grave decorations.
To honor Veterans buried in national cemeteries, VA staff and
volunteers, typically place American flags — either individual small
ones on each grave, usually placed by volunteers, or “avenues of flags”
flanking both sides of the cemetery main entrance road. Often these
flags are the burial flags donated by next of kin of Veterans buried in
the cemetery.
(See attached list of prominent speakers at Memorial Day programs.)
Memorial Day Speakers
State / City Cemetery Speaker
Illinois
Elwood Abraham Lincoln Nat’l Cemetery President Barack Obama
Belgium, Netherlands,
Luxembourg
Multiple cemeteries
VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki
Virginia
Arlington Arlington National Cemetery VA Deputy Secretary
Scott Gould
California
Bakersfield Bakersfield National Cemetery VA Under
Secretary Steve Muro
Dixon Sacramento Valley National Cemetery Irene
Trowell-Harris, Director,
VA Center for Women Veterans
Riverside Riverside National Cemetery VA Under Secretary Steve
Muro
Florida
Bay Pines Bay Pines National Cemetery Rep. Bill Young
Jacksonville Jacksonville National Cemetery Rep. Ander
Crenshaw
Sarasota Sarasota National Cemetery Sen. George LeMiuex
Minnesota
Minneapolis Ft. Snelling National Cemetery VA Under
Secretary Dr. Robert Petzel
Missouri
St. Louis Jefferson Barracks Natl Cemetery Gov. Jay Nixon
Sen. Claire McCaskill
Rep. Russ Carnahan
New Mexico
Santa Fe Santa Fe National Cemetery Sen. Jeff Bingaman
Oklahoma
Fort Gibson Ft. Gibson National Cemetery Rep. Dan Boren
Oregon
Eagle Point Eagle Point National Cemetery Sen. Ron Wyden
Roseburg Roseburg National Cemetery Lucretia McClenney,
Director, VA Center for Minority Veterans
Tennessee
Chattanooga Chattanooga National Cemetery Rep. Zach Wamp
Texas
Houston Houston National Cemetery Gov. Rick Perry |
