Every Memorial Day, a dedicated crowd gathers at Cathedral Cemetery in Scranton where flags stand at the grave sites from veterans of the Civil War, to those who died recently fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Some come to the Cathedral Cemetery holiday observance every year.
This is the third Memorial Day for Johanna Johnson of Scranton. Her son, Marine Lance Corporal Larry Johnson, died fighting in Afghanistan in February, 2010.
"He was a good kid," said his mother, "and he was loving and caring. The best son you could ever have."
"There's a lot of support and a lot of love from the Marine Corps and all the branches of the service," added his stepfather, Jeff Whitney of Scranton.
Lance Corporal Johnson is one of 13,000 veterans buried at Cathedral Cemetery. Those at Monday's ceremony said we not only need to honor them, we need to honor those serving in the military right now.
U.S. Senator Bob Casey noted how half of those returning from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq claim they are too disabled to work.