Memorial Day ceremony honors, remembers the fallen

The 2021 Commonwealth’s Memorial Day Ceremony held May 31, 2021, at the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, Virginia, honored and remembered the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces who paid the ultimate price in nation’s defense. Virginia Air National Guard Master Sgt. Damon L. Obasi led the Pledge of Allegiance and sang the national anthem during the ceremony, and retired Col. Mike Harris joined Acting Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs Kathleen Jabs placing a wreath at the Shrine of Memory for the Global War on Terrorism and Beyond.

“We are here today to pay tribute to Staff Sgt. Maxwell, Pfc. Harris, along with all the other mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, grandparents, all of the heroes who have died defending our country, our way of life and the freedoms we live every day,” Jabs said. “It is a privilege to serve and to give back to our country, and yet that service entails risk and requires a willingness to sacrifice. Then men and women whose names are etched on the walls in these sacred Shrines of Memory answered the nation’s call. They wanted to protect the country which has given them, and all of us, so much.”

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Attendees at the 2021 Commonwealth’s Memorial Day Ceremony pay tribute to fallen service members during the playing of taps May 31, 2021, at the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, Virginia.