LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kentuckiana honored the people who made the ultimate sacrifice and dying while serving in the armed forces during Memorial Day Monday.
More than 1.3 million Americans have died in the line of duty to afford Americans the freedoms taken for granted.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell spoke at the Veterans of Foreign Affairs service at the Cave Hill Cemetery.
The national cemetery is home to more than 6,000 veterans dating back to the Civil War. McConnell’s father, who is a World War II veteran, and his mother are both buried at Cave Hill.
The VFW was paying tribute over the weekend; they put hundreds of flags on the graves of veterans inside the cemetery starting Friday.
The National Guard added 13 names to their memorial. The memorial honors the people who died while performing at the National Guard.
Of the new names, 11 died during World War I, one died in 1935 during weekend training and another died in 2001 just before 9/11. There are now 286 names that have been added since 1912.
Over in Clarksville, Indiana the community held a service at the Veteran’s Place Memorial behind Clarksville’s Town Hall.
The theme for this year's event was President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, the 1862 executive order declaring all enslaved people would be free.
According to National Archives about 179,000 black men served as soldiers in the U.S. Army and another 19,000 served in the Navy. Nearly 40,000 black soldiers died over the course of the war.
“The lives that we lead and liberties and rights we enjoy have in so many ways been built on the shoulders of men and women in uniform who gave the ultimate sacrifice. It is our honor and obligation to see that our union remains strong,” said Clarksville Town President Ryan Ramsey.
The Patriot’s Peace Memorial also honored those who died while serving in the armed forces.
Two new names were added to the memorial: 24-year-old Air Force First Lt. Scott Ames Jr. from Pekin, Indiana and 19-year-old Marine Corps combat engineer LCpl Kenneth Robertson from Radcliff.
Ames died in a training flight crash last year, and Robertson died in a kayak accident last summer.
When a name is added, a concrete brick is removed and replaced by a glass plate. This signifies the joy of freedom safeguarded by our servicemen.
More than 450 patriots from the region have been memorialized since the wall started in 2002.
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