NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Rows of headstones cover the hills of the Nashville National Cemetery. Each headstone marks the final resting place of a service member, like Marshall Hayes who met his wife Ursula in 1968.
"I always come here, but today is a special day since my husband is buried here," said Ursula. "He passed away five years ago."
She was joined by hundreds of others who came to honor the fallen at this year's Memorial Day ceremony.
"Originally I'm from Germany, and I met my husband while he was in the service," said Ursula.
Flags were placed at 34,000 grave sites by Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts in honor of Memorial Day.
"So we have over 16,000 veterans that are buried here of the Civil War, and then all the rest we have over 36,000 buried here total," said Curtis Langer, the assistant director of the cemetery,
He called the event the cemetery's biggest day of the year.
"This is really about remembering those that paid the ultimate sacrifice. For me, it brings to mind just the many people that have served throughout the years that have had to pay that ultimate sacrifice for us to be here today," said Langer.
The ceremony included the presentation of colors, the national anthem, a wreath presentation and a firing team salute by members of the famed 101st Airborne Division.
But Ursula hopes it's a reminder to all of us about the price of freedom.
"I want people to know and to think that they gave their lives — their own lives, and [they] have families and they lost their loved ones," she said.
