Memorial Day

SoCal Events Commemorate The Fallen on Memorial Day Weekend

The holiday weekend got started with Memorial Day ceremonies across the Southland Saturday honoring veterans and those who lost their lives in combat.

An estimated 1,000 volunteers fanned out at Riverside National Cemetery to post miniature American flags alongside the graves of servicemen and women.

Cypress-based Honoring Our Fallen held its annual "Flag for Every Hero" ceremony, during which families, Boy Scouts, police Explorer troops and anyone else who want to participate walk the hallowed grounds, placing flags adjacent to plots.

When the flag walks began on Memorial Day weekend 2012, volunteers were able to reach only 21,000 of the more than 200,000 grave sites. In 2014, organizers were able to procure enough flags and enlist a sufficient number of people to plant the Stars and Stripes next to just about all of the final resting places of individuals interred at the cemetery.

The 900-acre national cemetery is the fourth-largest of its kind in the nation -- and running out of space.

Boy Scouts of America members also placed flags on the graves of veterans at Los Angeles National Cemetery.

Other tributes included special dedication of a Vietnam War monument at Arcadia Community Park and an annual celebration aboard the U-S-S Iowa in San Pedro.

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Saturday's events will also be highlighted by the beginning of a 24-hour vigil at the All Wars Memorial in Boyle Heights.

Editor's Note May, 29, 12:38 p.m.: The caption to the photo accompanying this story has been updated to correct the location of the Los Angeles National Cemetery.

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