(NewsNation) — Americans across the country are honoring the lives of friends and family who died serving in the military as they mark Memorial Day on Monday.
Near Washington, President Joe Biden completed an annual tradition, placing a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the country’s largest memorial to the nation’s fallen heroes, Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
In attendance were the vice president and second gentleman and top military brass, including Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. More than 400,00 veterans and their dependents are buried at the cemetery across the Potomac River from the nation’s capital.
Biden paid tribute to those fighters who sacrificed their lives for the country.
“Decade after decade, tour after tour, these warriors fought for our freedom and the freedom of others because freedom has never been guaranteed. Every generation has to earn it, fight for it, defend it in battle between autocracy and democracy, between the greed of a few and the rights of many,” Biden said in a speech delivered at the cemetery’s Memorial Amphitheater. “It matters. Our democracy is more than just a system of government — it’s the very soul of America.”
Over the weekend, there were ceremonies and remembrances across the country.
In Tampa, Florida, dozens gathered Sunday at a ceremony to honor Gold Star families, those who lost loved ones in the service.
“We say that as long as we speak their names, they will never be forgotten,” said Michele Carey, a Gold Star mother.
Hillsborough County Commissioner Michael Owen told families in attendance that “we mourn with you, we are somber with you and we know what this weekend means.”
In St. Louis, Scouts helped honor the heroes from previous generations in event aimed at teaching young people that the holiday is about more than an extended break from school. They gathered Sunday at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery to continue a heartfelt tradition: placing thousands of American flags at the gravesites of fallen service men and women.
Olive Tilghman, with the Gravois Trail District in the St. Louis Area Council and chairperson for the event, expressed the personal significance of the tradition.
“It’s very important to me. My family is buried here. I have a lot of friends that are buried here,” Tilghman said. “I feel we need to respect that and give younger people an opportunity to relive some of those experiences by reading the gravestones and seeing what these people have done so that they can have the opportunity to do what they want to do and be free.”
According to government data, well over 600,000 service members have died in conflicts since World War I.
NewsNation affiliates WFLA and KTVI contributed to this report.
