Member of Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 203 present the colors during the annual Memorial Day service at the Chattanooga National Cemetery on Monday.Hundreds gathered around the Chattanooga National Cemetery pavilion Monday morning — yet it was nearly silent.
“Walk the hallowed ground among these final resting places of our nation’s best, and you will come to understand that every grave and every marker bears a name,” said Harry Carroll, the Veterans of Foreign Wars department commander for Tennessee. “Every name represents a person who was loved by someone, and who loved someone in return.”
And the crowd sat solemnly, white headstones stretching out behind them in the sunlight.
As the colors of each veterans’ organization were being massed, silent salutes from veterans peppered the crowd.
But when the Choo Choo Chorus began singing a rendition of “God Bless America,” the whole crowd stood up, and nearly everybody joined in with the song they knew so well.