Ceremony at Fort Bliss National Cemetery honors veterans who paid ultimate sacrifice

Times staff report
·1 min read
1

El Pasoans united at a Memorial Day ceremony Monday at Fort Bliss National Cemetery to honor those who died serving the U.S.

The ceremony included a wreath laying, speeches, a moment of silence, the playing of taps and the national anthem, and a 21-cannon national salute.

The speakers were 3rd Brigade Commander Col. Matthew T. Adamczyk, Chaplain Col. Kevin Wainwright and Fort Bliss National Cemetery Director Francisco Gonzalez. The Army’s 1st Armored Division Band performed.

More than 1.3 million soldiers have died fighting for America, according to USA TODAY.

Vietnam veteran Alfredo Carlos Herrera visits the grave of his friend, Alfredo Ochoa Jr., on Memorial Day at Fort Bliss National Cemetery. The two had enlisted after graduating together from El Paso High and were sent with the 7th Battalion to Vietnam, where Ochoa was killed in 1969. For Herrera, Memorial Day means "that we must not forget all our dead who sacrificed themselves for our freedom.”

It has been 155 years since soldiers from both sides of the Civil War joined in remembering their lost comrades in America's bloodiest war on what was once called Decoration Day. An act of Congress in 1971 created the Memorial Day holiday the nation now observes.

The Department of Veterans Affairs operates 155 national cemeteries and 34 soldiers' lots and monument sites in 44 states and Puerto Rico. More than 5 million Americans, including veterans of every war and conflict, are buried in VA cemeteries, a news release said. The VA also provides headstones, markers or medallions for veterans buried in state, territorial and tribal veterans cemeteries or interred in private cemeteries.

A man walks among the headstones as El Pasoans, veterans and military families honor fallen soldiers on Memorial Day at Fort Bliss National Cemetery.
A man walks among the headstones as El Pasoans, veterans and military families honor fallen soldiers on Memorial Day at Fort Bliss National Cemetery.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Fort Bliss National Cemetery ceremony honors veterans who died for US