Families spend Memorial Day remembering loved ones buried at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery
Spouses, parents, and children at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery spent Memorial Day honoring loved ones who made the ultimate sacrifice.
On Memorial Day, planes and flags fly for the fallen as a crowd gathers for the annual ceremony at the cemetery. Some visitors go searching for the loved ones they lost.
"I'm looking for my husband, Jerome Newburn," said Terry Newburn. "He's out here somewhere."
She knows she's getting close. Her husband of 21 years is buried at the cemetery among more than 82,000 servicemen and women—many who served and never came home.
"It's worthwhile to come out here and spend some time…" said Brian Pettlon.
Petllon knows his father-in-law was one of the lucky ones.
"Raymond Paulis. He was a corporal. He was a tech corporal," he said. "WWII vet, South Pacific. Turned 19 on Okinawa, during the battle of Okinawa."
He died at 78, also known as a loving dad and grandpa.
"He was quite the guy," Pettlon said.
After a long walk for Terry, it was time for the long-awaited reunion between her and Jerome—identifying him by the date Sept. 9, 1939.
"He loved music. He liked singing. always wanted to be in a group," she said. "We had a pretty good life."
Memorial Day can move us to reconnect with loved ones lost, but it's also about the lives cut short.
While flags fly for all who served, it's the duty of the living to remember the fallen.