Memorial Ceremonies and Tributes

Wreath-laying ceremonies and memorial services honoring fallen soldiers, highlighting solemn moments and tributes at various significant locations.

A man points at a name on the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC
A man points at a name on the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC
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A Boy Scout and a Girl Scout carry a wreath to the base of a monument during the Memorial Day observance at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, which is also known as the Punchbowl.. Base: Honolulu State: Hawaii(HI) Country: United States Of America(USA)
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Soldiers of the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) provide ceremonial support for an Armed Forces Full Honors Wreath-Laying Ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery, Va., Sept. 14, 2022. The wreath was laid by Yasukazu Hamada, Minister of Defence of Japan, and hosted by Maj. Gen. Allan M. Pepin, commanding general, Joint Task Force-National Capital Region, U.S. Army Military District of Washington.
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The Corpsmen Memorial was officially unveiled to the public on October 12, 2022. The statue, situated in Lejeune Memorial Gardens in Jacksonville, North Carolina, pays tribute to the heroism and sacrifices of Navy corpsmen.
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Barricade in front of a monument, USS Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii Islands, USA
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Man Kneeling at Vietnam Wall Memorial, Washington, D.C.
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A smaller version of Randolph Air Force Base's "Missing Man" monument was unveiled at the 1999 Freedom Flyers Reunion. It is now on display at Atterberry Hall on Randolph AFB. This photograph is part of the article " Freedom Flight", AIRMAN Magazine, September 1999 issue. Base: Randolph Air Force Base State: Texas (TX) Country: United States Of America (USA)
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120605-N-AC887-004 NORMANDY, France (June 5, 2012) Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV), the Honorable Ray Mabus, reads the inscription on the U.S. Navy memorial honoring Sailors lost during the D-Day invasion of Normandy at Utah Beach in Sainte Marie du Mont, France. Mabus also delivered remarks at a local ceremony praising the extraordinary courage of the landing forces at Utah Beach on June 6, 1944, and highlighted the role of U.S. naval forces on that historic day.
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050723-N-9286M-020. Base: Annapolis State: Maryland (MD) Country: United States Of America (USA) Scene Major Command Shown: Stockdale
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Children place flowers on a memorial during a D-Day ceremony at Negreville, France, June 3, 2022. Negreville hosted their 24th annual D-Day memorial service as a way to thank those who fought and died to free them from occupation during World War II.
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U.S. Army Col. (ret.) Gregory Gadson participates in a Public Wreath-Laying Ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va., Oct. 4, 2022. Gadson was at ANC to speak to employees as part of the National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Gadson has dedicated himself to the work of Wounded Warriors, veterans, and other groups who support employment and betterment of person with disabilities.
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1st Lt. Derek Hines was killed in action on Sept. 1, 2005 while in Baylough, Afghanistan during a deployment with Battle Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade. Hines was posthumously awarded two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star for his service.
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ASTRONAUT MEMORIAL - DAY OF REMEMBRANCE
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NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine speaks to NASA personnel and others during a wreath laying ceremony as part of NASA's Day of Remembrance, Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. The wreaths were laid in memory of those men and women who lost their lives in the quest for space exploration.
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USA, New York, Ground Zero
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Visit of Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to Yorktown, Virginia to deliver the keynote address at the 225th anniversary celebration of the Battle of Yorktown. Among other dignitaries on hand for the commemorative events were Virginia Senators John Warner and George Allen, former U.S. Army Secretary John Marsh, French Ambassador to the U.S. Jean-David Levitte, and French Defense Minister Michelle Alliot-Marie.
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Woman looking at reflections in wall at Korean War Veterans Memorial on Mall in Washington DC, USA
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U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson honors fallen heroes at the American Battle Monuments Commission's Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in Taguig City, Philippines, August 6, 2017.
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A French Contingent from Metz lay a wreath at the gravesite of U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Harry Twaddle, former 95th Division Commander, in Section 2 of Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va., Oct. 20, 2022. This wreath-laying was part of the 95th Division Legacy Associations 72nd Reunion.
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Mr. Steve Thompson, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency team member, presents the Special Operations Association wreath during the National POW/MIA Recognition Day Ceremony at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Sept. 16, 2022. The event is held every year on the third Friday of September, honoring prisoners of war and missing-in-action service members. DPAAs mission is to achieve the fullest possible accounting for missing and unaccounted-for U.S. personnel to their families and our nation.
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Australia, Canberra, Australian War Memorial, Hall of Memory, memorial wreaths
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10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) retirees pay respect and remember fallen 2nd Battalion Soldiers during alumni night on Fort Carson, Colorado, June 15, 2022. Alumni night gave the chance for Group retirees to come back to the compound to spend time, share stories and remember the fallen with current 10th SFG(A) Soldiers.
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RETIRED NASA ASTRONAUT ROBERT LEE (HOOT) GIBSON DELIVERS COMMENTS AT ANNUAL DAY OF REMEMBRANCE EVENT
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POLAND, AUSCHWITZ WORLD WAR II CONCENTRATION CAMP (WORLD HERITAGE SITE), FLOWERS AT EXECUTION SITE
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U.S. Army Col. Jim Sadler, U.S. Army attaché of the U.S. embassy in Hague, represents the United States in a ceremony during the anniversary of Operation Market Garden at the Robert Frost Bridge, Arnhem, Netherlands., Sep. 16, 2022. These European citizen remember the sacrifice from the 1st British Parachute Regiment and honor the ones who lost their lives liberating the Netherlands during World War II.
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YOKOSUKA, Japan (June 27, 2017) Family, friends and shipmates attend a memorial ceremony at Fleet Activities Yokosuka honoring the seven Sailors assigned to the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62) who were killed in a collision at sea.
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An honor guard of first responders stood by as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry came to Brussels National Airport in Brussels, Belgium, on March 25, 2016, to visit the terminal attacked by terrorists earlier in the week while paying condolences on behalf of the American people following the twin terrorists attacks on the city and country.
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A wreath on display during a POW/MIA remembrance ceremony, Sept. 15, 2022, at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany. Approximately 82,000 Americans remain unaccounted for as a consequence of all past and ongoing conflicts.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Kennedy Space Center Employees and guests placed wreaths and flowers at the Space Mirror Memorial at the spaceport's Visitor Complex during NASA's Day of Remembrance. The annual event took place on the 10th anniversary of the loss of the space shuttle Columbia and its crew and was hosted by the Astronauts Memorial Foundation. The ceremony also honored the astronauts of Apollo 1, who perished in 1967, and the shuttle Challenger, lost in 1986, as well as other astronauts who lost their lives while furthering the cause of exploration and discovery. Dedicated in 1991, the names of fallen astronauts are emblazoned the monument's 4.5-foot-high-by-50-foot-wide polished black granite surface which reflects the sky and has been designated by Congress as a National Memorial.
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Visitors search for names on the face of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the day before its official dedication. Base: Washington State: District Of Columbia (DC) Country: United States Of America (USA)
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Scenes from the campus of Virginia Tech, sight of a shooting masacre that left 33 people dead
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Memorial Garden, honoring fallen Armed Forces troops who died in Afganistan and Iraq Wars, North End, North Church, Boston, MA
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Wreaths, flowers, and candles are placed at the base of the Ramstein Air Base West Gate by German citizens at the end of a march from Ramstein Village. The march is a show of support and empathy for the victims, and those who mourn them, of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centers Twin Towers and at the Pentagon. Hijackers deliberately flew civilian airliners into the buildings, killing themselves, the passengers and thousands on the ground, on September 11th. Base: Ramstein Air Base State: Rheinland-Pfalz Country: Deutschland / Germany (DEU) Scene Major Command Shown: USAFE
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The newly refurbished 9/11 memorial monument sits outside of the chapel at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, Sept. 11, 2022. Service members and civilians honored the memory and sacrifice of 9/11 victims as part of a memorial service at the base chapel. The ceremony also commemorated the 20th anniversary of the chapels rededication to Operation Enduring Freedom and 60th year of operations within its current building.
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Annual Antietam National Battlefield Memorial Illumination ceremony, Sharpsburg, Maryland, with Secretary Dirk Kempthorne among the participants
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The World War II Memorial in Washington DC on the National Mall
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Foreign Affairs Day 2005 ceremonies, speeches, award presentations. Events included a ceremony at the American Foreign Service Association's (AFSA) Memorial Plaque, in the Harry S. Truman Building's C Street Lobby, honoring foreign service officers who died in the line of duty. AFSA President John Limbert, Under Secretary for Political Affairs R. Nicholas Burns, and other officials delivered remarks, as three new entries on the plaque the names of James Mollen and Edward Seitz, of U.S. Embassy Baghdad, and John O'Grady, of U.S. Consulate in Brisbane were unveiled.
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70th anniversary of the bombing of Dresden
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Archbishop of Honiara, Solomon Islands, Chris Cardone begins a Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) repatriation ceremony with an invocation and prayer at the American Memorial in Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, March 30, 2023. The ceremony was held to repatriate possible remains found during a recent Recovery Mission to the Solomon Islands which will then be taken to DPAA facilities for possible identification in an ongoing effort to account for the 5,800 U.S. service members still missing from Pacific Theater during WWII.
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Idaho Governor Brad Little, military members, veterans and residents of the Treasure Valley community gather at Idaho State Veterans Cemetery for a Memorial Day ceremony, May 30, 2022, Boise, Idaho. The ceremony included guest speakers, a 21-gun salute and firing of American Civil War cannons.
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Photo of flower arrangement presented during a ceremony at the 1st Infantry Division Monument in Colleville-Sur-Mer, France, June 5, 2022. The event honored the men of the "Big Red One" who fought in the invasion of Normandy.
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This is a photo illustration created at the Ike Skelton Training Site, Jefferson City, Missouri, July 12, 2022. This image represents the 69th anniversary of signing the Korean Armistice Agreement that ended the war.
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020911-A-1814P-001. Base: Miami State: Florida (FL) Country: United States Of America (USA) Scene Major Command Shown: Southeast