Memorial Day services conducted at Veterans Memorial Cemetery

Families of veterans planted and unfurled flags at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery at Evergreen Washelli on Monday for Memorial Day, and KIRO 7′s Ranji Sinha was there.

Memorial Day is a solemn occasion marked with respect, remembrance and admiration for people who served and died.

At around 8 a.m., personnel put out the flags, donated by families of veterans in memory of their loved ones, along the roadway.

Joseph Perez looked at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery with some awe. “Just to be here among my peers, basically. I’m retired military too,” he said.

Perez said he knows he will probably be resting alongside his fellow service people someday in a different cemetery, but on this day, he lives with his memory of service and all those who sacrificed.

“Eventually, we all end up here,” Perez said. “It’s a good thing to show that people still care – for the veterans who served and died for our country.”

With the stars and stripes saluting those who died in service to our country, chaplain Tiffany Bothell said that although in-person events happened in recent years, this year feels a bit more like the Memorial Day she knows.

“It’s an honor to support our troops and our veterans,” Bothell said. “To be able to have the honor still, even with the face mask and the pandemic and everything, it’s been quite amazing.”

Carrie McEwan of Seattle came early with her sons, as their Scout troop was tasked with planting flags at the markers in Veterans Memorial Cemetery.

“We’re excited to be out here,” McEwan said. “We have lots of veterans in our family, so we’re here to support them and honor them and the work they did for us.”