Gulf Cemetery Association holds a special Memorial Day ceremony in Santa Rosa Beach

SANTA ROSA BEACH, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - “Greater love has no one than this: to lay one’s life for one’s friends.”

On Memorial Day, these words comfort those who are remembering the men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice.

“Memorial Day is not just the kick-off to summer but that our freedom to do that cost so many lives,” Event Coordinator Scooter Ward said.

The Historic Gulf Cemetery hosted its annual Memorial Day ceremony Monday morning, to honor and thank our veterans who fought and died for the freedoms we now enjoy.

The cemetery is 106 years old and has 156 veterans buried there.

“One of our mission statements is to teach children about the sacrifices others have made to make the freedoms we enjoy possible so we have a big deal about getting children involved in everything we have two ceremonies a year one is this one and the wreaths across America ceremonies,” Gulf Cemetery Association President Bill Keyes.

Gulf Cemetery Association President Bill Keyes tells us this ceremony shows families what the day really means.

“We are trying to help them take time and think about the day that they are enjoying today, the day is a holiday but it is a special holiday and it is a time we hope that they would reflect on the people who preceded them, who gave their lives to help give them the freedoms that they enjoy today,” Keyes said.

The Gulf Cemetery Association also sponsored the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall that has been set up at The Chapel at Crosspoint since Thursday.

“We looked at, we planned out Memorial Day service and we thought this would be a great time feature the wall,” Ward said.

The 123rd Fighter Training Squadron out of Fort Rucker did a fly-over at the ceremony to honor the Vietnam War Veterans and all of the men and women who gave it all.

Copyright 2021 WJHG. All rights reserved.