Tallahassee observed Memorial Day with solemn events at several places.
The day began with the placing of small flags at the graves of military veterans in the Greenwood Cemetery on Old Bainbridge Road.
When he was a congressman, Al Lawson organized the Memorial Day flag placement as a yearly event.
"It was kind of like a cemetery that was forgotten."
Nearly 100 people came out to help with the flags this year. Including State Senator Corey Simon.
"I know there's a lot of folks who pass by here and never know what's here, but there's a lot of sacrifice in this cemetery."
State Representative Gallop Franklin noting that big, worldwide matters quickly become person when a loved one is involved.
"What people don't realize is that international conflict becomes domestic challenges."
The Greenwood Cemetery opened in 1937 after the Tallahassee City Commission voted to no longer along African Americans to be buried in the Old City Cemetery or Oakland Cemetery. That prohibition was lifted as the Civil Rights movement gained ascendency in the 1960s.
Today, Tallahassee's Oakland Cemetery has a special section for the graves of the region's military veterans. Each year, the American Legion hosts a remembrance of those buried there. Nell Hewitt is a member of Sauls-Bridges Post 13 American Legion Auxiliary. She's proud of the role the organization plays in the annual observance of Memorial Day.
"We have our freedom. That's important and the men who died for us, we need to honor them."
This year, those honors were extended to the area's "Gold Star" families, who had lost a loved one in the course of military duty.
Further to the south, off of the Crawfordville Highway, Tallahassee has the only Veterans of Foreign Wars Cemetery in the country. On this Memorial Day, the traditional ceremony there also included the dedication of an Unknown Soldiers Monument. It was a project of the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Phyllis Asztalos is the group's librarian.
"For our chapter, Fort San Luis, we're 75 years young and this is the first dedicated plaque we're doing."
The VFW observance also included the placing of wreaths at stations representing each branch of the military.
