Hundreds pay tribute to fallen soldiers in Phoenix on Memorial Day
May 25, 2015, 6:17 PM | Updated: 6:18 pm
PHOENIX — It was a day of remembrance Monday in Phoenix for members of the military who died while serving the country.
A ceremony was held at the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona near Pinnacle Peak and Cave Creek roads to pay tribute to those fallen soldiers.
Roughly 260 U.S. flags lined Cave Creek Road and the entrance to the cemetery, and each grave had a small flag staked in the ground next to the headstone.
Hundreds of people showed up to watch the ceremony, lay flowers and wave flags as part of the event.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Memorial Day is a day to be proud and humbled by the sacrifice those who died at war have made for the U.S.
“It is a better world that our fathers inherited and their fathers before them — a world purchased at great and terrible cost by sacrifices on killing fields, that are now green fields and quiet beaches,” McCain said.
The ceremony also included a flyover, the presenting of wreaths, honor guards, a three-volley salute and the playing of “Taps.”
Many veterans were in attendance with each of the U.S. military branches represented, as well as veterans of each war the U.S. has been involved in dating back to World War II.