The Memorial Day Ceremony at the Fayetteville National Cemetery kicked off with the recognition of colors, the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem.
Francis Ferguson, 89, and Preston C. Ferguson, 93 are brothers and WWII vets. They attended the ceremony and remembered their time overseas.
The brothers said they enjoyed the annual ceremony at the cemetery.
"I love to come over here and meet the people," said Preston C. Ferguson, an Air Force vet. "I've got lots of relatives and friends buried here and my wife is buried here also."
His brother Francis Ferguson is a Marine veteran. He said it's important to honor the men and women who serve their country.
"We have an awful lot of people that the rest of the public should be honoring after all they spent lot of time away from home and their families," he said.
The keynote speaker was Sgt. Marshall Kennedy, who was injured overseas after an explosion.
Chris Turner, cemetery staff member, said they bumped into Sgt. Kennedy when he was visiting the cemetery grounds.
"I think that it's an act of God perhaps that we met because we happened to be out on the ground and we were so intrigued with Sgt. Kennedy," Turner said. "We immediately invited him to come be our speaker."
Turner said he visited the cemetery on his birthday.
"He came to visit the cemetery here so that spoke volumes to us about what this means to him," Turner said.
Otis Harris, Navy WWII vet, said he's proud of the younger generation and hopes they don't forget those who served before them.
"You wanna tell the youngsters, 'you are going to take care of us now' and I truly believe that," Harris said.
The ceremony also included the memorial wreath, the gun salute and the bagpipes.
