Images: Memorial Day around the nation
Fireworks illuminate the sky over the James River at Rockett's Landing near downtown Richmond, Va. on Sunday, May 27, 2012, during "Rocket's Red Glare," a Memorial Day celebration.
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Gen. John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, observes Memorial Day by reading a letter written by an American soldier to his family before he died earlier this year, at the ISAF headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, May 28, 2012.
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Mark Meirink leaves after visiting the grave of Phillip Vinnedge on Sunday, May 27, 2012, at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis. Meirink served with Vinnedge in the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment in Helmand Province, where Vinnedge was killed by a road side bomb in October 2010. (
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Army veteran Joseph Motil pauses to remember fallen soldiers during a Memorial Day ceremony Sunday, May 27, 2012, at the Williams Township Veterans Memorial in Williams Township, Pa.
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Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom veteran Michael Strawn, left, shakes the hand of Army veteran Joseph Motil during a Memorial Day ceremony Sunday, May 27, 2012, at the Williams Township Veterans Memorial in Williams Township, Pa.
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Jackelynn Freund, 8, of San Diego, honors her grandmother, U.S. Navy veteran Jessie Coats, at her gravestone during a Memorial Day ceremony at the new Miramar National Cemetery in San Diego, Sunday, May 27, 2012.
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Gen. John Allen, center, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, salutes before he observes Memorial Day by reading a letter written by an American soldier to his family before he died earlier this year, at the ISAF headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, May 28, 2012.
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In this Saturday, May 26, 2012, photo, a boy salutes the crowd during the Memorial Day parade in Coos Bay, Ore.
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In this Saturday, May 26, 2012, photo, Zechariah and Jeremiah Winders hang out the window of Mark Winders' Point Man Ministries military truck during the Memorial Day parade in Coos Bay, Ore.
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Members of the Minnesota Korean War Veterans Chapter # 1 pause for a prayer during the benediction of the Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery Memorial Day program Sunday, May 27, 2012, in Little Falls , Minn.
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Don Kengerski salutes as members of the Marine Corps League Flint Detachment #155 present the colors during the 7th annual Memorial Day ceremony at the Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, Mich., on Sunday May 27, 2012.
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U.S. Army Sgt. Brian Junga stands with memorial wreaths during the 7th annual Memorial Day ceremony at the Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, Mich., on Sunday May 27, 2012.
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Ric Winston, of the Marine Corps League Flint Detachment #155, plays "Taps" during the 7th annual Memorial Day ceremony at the Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, Mich., on Sunday May 27, 2012.
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Members of the Marine Corps League Flint Detachment #155 prepare to present the colors during the 7th annual Memorial Day ceremony at the Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, Mich., on Sunday May 27, 2012.
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Members of the Marine Corps League Flint Detachment #155 participate during the 7th annual Memorial Day ceremony at the Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, Mich., on Sunday May 27, 2012.
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A member of the Genesee County Young Marines holds a United States flag during the 7th annual Memorial Day ceremony at the Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, Mich., on Sunday May 27, 2012.
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People prepare to present wreaths during the 7th annual Memorial Day ceremony at the Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, Mich., on Sunday May 27, 2012.
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Don Kengerski salutes as members of the Marine Corps League Flint Detachment #155 present the colors during the 7th annual Memorial Day ceremony at the Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, Mich., on Sunday May 27, 2012.
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Ric Winston, of the Marine Corps League Flint Detachment #155, plays "Taps" during the 7th annual Memorial Day ceremony at the Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, Mich., on Sunday May 27, 2012.
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Attendees recite The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States during the 7th annual Memorial Day ceremony at the Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, Mich., on Sunday May 27, 2012.
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Petty Officer 2nd class Jim Shurte prepares to present a wreath for the Friends of McFarlan Park during the 7th annual Memorial Day ceremony at the Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, Mich., on Sunday May 27, 2012.
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Sgt. Jerry Tester attends the 7th annual Memorial Day ceremony at the Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, Mich., on Sunday May 27, 2012.
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Tom Azuma of Helena, Ala. pays respects to the grave of his foster father Eric Norton, who brought him to the United States from Japan, the day before Memorial Day at the Alabama National Cemetery Sunday, May 27, 2012, in Montevallo, Ala. Norton, who served in the USAF in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, died in January of 2011 three days shy of his 86th birthday.
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Visitors stop at the Korean War Veterans Memorial ahead of Memorial Day in Washington, Sunday, May 27, 2012.
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U.S. Veteran Edwin Dyer, left, and Jerry Pinkerton from Texas., walks along layers of tombs after attending Memorial Day rites at the American Cemetery in suburban Taguig, south of Manila, Philippines on Sunday May 27, 2012. The cemetery site contains the largest number of U.S. military dead of World War II.
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Aimee Blume plays Amazing Grace as The American Legion, Kapperman Post #44 put on a Memorial Day service at Rose Hill Cemetery in Newburgh, Ind. on Saturday, May 26, 2012.
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Members of Boy Scout Troop 450 and 278 lead the parade carrying a large American flag during the Memorial Day observance ceremony at the Memphis National Cemetery in Memphis, Tenn. Saturday, May 26, 2012. For 29 years members of the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and American Heritage Girls have placed flags on the 42,000 graves at the Memphis National Cemetery during a ceremony honoring veterans for the Memorial Day Celebration.
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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, center, walks behind an honor guard during Memorial Day ceremonies at Brig. General William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Wrightstown N.J., Saturday, May 26, 2012.
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An honor guard stands near wreaths honoring the fallen during Memorial Day ceremonies at Brig. General William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Wrightstown N.J., Saturday, May 26, 2012.
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Donald Stewart, of Somerset, N.J., stands next to his wife, Betty Stewart, at the grave of her son, U.S. Navy veteran Twain S. Bryant, during Memorial Day ceremonies at Brig. General William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Wrightstown N.J., Saturday, May 25, 2012.
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Miniature American flags sit in front of a headstones at the Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, Mich. on Friday May 25, 2012.
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Vietnam veteran, Chris Osterode, right, and his wife, Maureen pay their respects at his grandfather's grave site, a WWII veteran, Friday May 25, 2012, at the Los Angeles National Cemetery in Los Angeles.
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Volunteer Red Flegal of New London, Pa., helps a visitor with a rubbing of a name} on the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in Washington, Friday, May 25, 2012. On Monday, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall will begin the national commemoration of the Vietnam Warís 50th anniversary.
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Vietnam veteran Verlin Maglitz of Jacksonville, Ill., pauses as he takes a rubbing of those he fought with in Vietnam during his visit to the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in Washington, Friday, May 25, 2012. Maglitz was in the Army and served in Vietnam as part of the 101st Airborne Division and plans to take rubbings of approximately 45 of his friends. On Monday, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall will begin the national commemoration of the Vietnam Warís 50th anniversary.
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