Coronavirus overshadows low-key Memorial Day
The Memorial Day holiday that traditionally kicks off summer with flag-waving parades was mostly low-key on Monday, as many events to commemorate fallen soldiers were scaled-down or canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak that has killed nearly 100,000 people in the United States alone.
In cities and small towns across the country that would typically organize large parades instead arranged to have a smaller convoy of vehicles drive the route.
Americans also packed beaches and parks.
"Seems like people are behaving themselves. There's some kind of crowded barbecue picnic areas but, other than that, it seems that people are having a great time and being respectful."
But videos and photos posted on social media showed some people crowded into pools elbow-to-elbow.
President Donald Trump participated in a solemn wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, alongside Vice President Mike Pence and Defense Secretary Mark Esper. Ahead of Trump's arrival, dignitaries were asked to remove their masks.
Trump also delivered a speech at Baltimore's Fort McHenry National Monument to an audience wearing face shields and masks.
The president began Memorial Day with a series of tweets threatening to move the Republican National Convention from North Carolina if the August event faces social distancing restrictions imposed by the state's Democratic governor.
Trump also defended his golf outings over the holiday weekend, saying they were for exercise and suggested that former President Barack Obama's golf trips were in poor taste and bad for the environment.
Trump also attacked former Vice President Joe Biden, who emerged from his home on Monday for the first time in 10 weeks to lay a wreath at a nearby veterans memorial.
