SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - Former prisoners of war and Korean war veterans members of the Navy Nurse Corps and the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association gathered together with other veterans groups at Miramar National Cemetery.
They not only honored each other for their service to our country, but they paid respects to those who died fighting for America's freedom.
It was time to strike up the band at Miramar National Cemetery, where hundreds of veterans, their loved ones and friends attended the park's second annual Memorial Day service.
For many, it was the first time they have been to the burial site, Mike Black, a Marine Corps veteran who served in Vietnam.
Black says he would like civilians to remember Memorial Day this way, when they are celebrating the holiday tomorrow.
"Don't just think about Memorial Day on Memorial Day, think about it all year."
An antique horse drawn black hearse carriage sat in the distance during dignitaries speeches.
A gentle breeze whipped flags along the entrance to the landmark as those who fought for America reflected on what they sacrificed.
Each Memorial Day cemetery visitors place carnations on final resting places.
Brooke Linnman brought her four kids to honor her late father.
"It's an amazing feeling that we can come and honor all our veterans... I think everyone needs to remember that freedom certainly isn't free and our Military veterans need to not be forgotten."
Miramar cemetery officials say they are working on a $120,000 project to eventually put up carillon bells, which will ring and be heard all around the park.