BOULDER CITY (KTNV) — “Freedom is not free. It’s paid for by the lives of patriots who believe in something greater than themselves," said Sonny Vinuya, the Southern Nevada Outreach Director from the Office of Governor Joe Lombardo.
“Let us carry their memories in our hearts, let us honor them not only in words but in our actions.”
WATCH | Locals share with Ryan Ketcham how their remembering their fallen loved ones on Memorial Day
This Memorial Day, tens of thousands of American flags were placed at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City.
Each flag honors a service member who died.
“I just love to see the flags and all the people who come out for it," said Pam Wages, who paid her respects Monday.
Michael and Pam Wages remembered their family buried at the cemetery, planting flowers at their grave sites.
“I come to my mom and dad’s grave every memorial day," Michael said. “I have an uncle that’s over in this area over there. I have another uncle who served in the Army way over there.”
Pam told me she was overwhelmed by the support she saw Monday. I asked her what it meant to see hundreds in our community honoring those who died for our country.
"That they’re not forgotten, you have to have something," Pam said.
I asked her if she feels like service members are forgotten some days.
"Yeah, some days, but when you come up here they’re not," Pam said.
So many honored the memories of their fallen family members. For Donna Lockhart, she remembered her cousin who died in the Vietnam War.
"He wanted them to go through the fox hole, but unfortunately he was the last one through and he got killed, he died with huge honors," Lockhart said. "The whole platoon was saved but him.”
Pam tells me she hopes generations to come will continue to see the importance of sharing the stories of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for us.
“To let them know that we have never forgotten them," Pam said. "They are always missed."
