The sun revealed itself long enough to grace the 2015 Memorial Day Events in Kenai and Soldotna Monday.
Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Posts and American Legion gathered in the morning for the Avenue of Flags at the Kenai Cemetery.
U.S. Army Captain Martin K. Hall spoke about the importance of remembering.
U.S. Capt. Hall: “Each of us that walks here has a different reason to be here. Mine is a 19 year-old named Joe Kelley, he died in Vietnam. I never got to know him very well but he’s always been one of those people that I want to make sure to honor. Joe Kelley died as a Navy corpsman and was saving lives at the time. These guys you see here have friends and stories just like mine and I just want to come here and honor those people.”
Senator Peter Micciche(R – District O) was one of a number of local elected officials to attend the memorial service in Leif Hansen Memorial Park.
Sen. Micciche: “Memorial Day is specifically about remembering those who have fallen in defense of our freedom and I think that the most important thing is the one thing that we owe those that have fallen is to not forget what they did for us. So bringing our community together, and I love seeing all the families at these things because it’s so important to pass it on to the next generation but specifically the reason we’re here is to remember those who gave their lives in defense of our freedom.”
According to the National Moment of Remembrance Act, passed in 2000, Americans are asked to pause whatever they are doing at 3 pm local time to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms of the United States of America.
