BAY PINES, Fla. — Hundreds of people showed up at Bay Pines National Cemetery Monday for a special ceremony honoring fallen soldiers.
“Well, I just want to honor all of the fallen veterans,” said Steve Urgo.
For Steve, today is a day of reflection. He has several family members who’ve served in the military.
“My father, World War II; my grandfather, WWI; my uncle served in the navy on D-day,” said Steve.
Steve has also served. He was stationed on the USS Constellation, touring the Pacific right after the Vietnam War.
“Old aircraft carrier and it was quite an adventure,” Steve recounted.
“Well, we’ve made it a tradition, actually, to come for the past many years,” said Nina Urgo, Steve’s wife.
Nina said that although Memorial Day is a great day to picnic and have cookouts, it’s also important to reflect on the true meaning of the holiday.
“You know, in your day-to-day life, you get caught up with stuff, life, and this is a special day to remember those that really, really gave it all,” said Nina.
Hundreds of spectators attended this special ceremony at Bay Pines National Cemetery in Pinellas County.
Some even brought flowers to be left on the plaques bearing the names of soldiers who had passed away. Others just sat and reflected as they gazed over the stream of American flags covering the field where national heroes are buried.
“The significance of today for me, my parents are buried back at the Columbarium,” said Cyliss Harrington.
In addition to Representative Kathy Castor speaking, Dr. Marrianne Mathewson-Chapman was the keynote speaker.
She served in the National Guard from 1975 to 2008 and was the first woman to earn the rank of major general in the Florida Army National Guard.
In her speech, she spoke about living up to the values of those soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice.
In a conversation with me, she also spoke about the importance of honoring our fallen soldiers who are women.
“So, women have always been in there. They don’t get much credit for them, and as I was mentioning earlier, even in the American Revolution, women got no credit, except unless you were wounded, and then some of them did get a pension,” said Mathewson-Chapman.
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