KERNERSVILLE, N.C. — There were several events across the Triad to mark Memorial Day. Military pageantry returned to the Carolina Field of Honor in Kernersville after the pandemic prevented it from taking place last year.
Hundreds packed the park for the annual Memorial Day ceremony held to honor those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.
This year's guest speaker was retired Navy Master Chief Petty Officer and Navy SEAL, Steve Nash. Nash was a UDT (Underwater Demolitions Team) diver before moving into SEAL Team 1. Nash was awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart for his service during his many tours of Vietnam.
"Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. Those are the people that we are here today to honor not the spring sales, not the trips to the beach, and not the barbecues. This is Memorial Day folks," said Steve Nash.
A majority of the people at the event were veterans themselves accompanied to the somber occasion by family and friends.
"War is hell, it's just pure hell and there's a lot of our young men that have passed on because they were trying to serve us here in the country and keep the liberty going for us," said Gene Smith, a Korean War Veteran.
"Unfortunately a lot of our brothers and sisters didn't get to come back so this time is just about honoring them and honoring their sacrifice and honoring The memories," said Bo Jones, Iraq and Afghanistan War Veteran.
Some family members whose loved ones served or died in America's wars came to honor them at the event in different ways, many with flags.
Ron Tuck of Greensboro wore a jacket to pay homage to the Buffalo Soldiers.
"Think about all those who who have died and suffered and have never come back home that is a painful thing to experience to lose a loved one," Tuck said.
Apart from the main center stage event, one of the highlights was the Tree of Valor exhibition that a Triad woman set up to honor fallen and living military heroes. Lori Egerter said she started the Tree of Valor by collecting pictures of veteran family and friends for a Christmas tree for her son who is in the U.S. Marine Corps.
"He had come home right before deployment and we wanted to surprise him and I had the house all decorated even though it was Halloween. We had an artificial tree so once Christmas was over we just left the tree up," said Egerter.
Egerter's dad is on one of the trees, he fought in the Korean War and died years later when she was 14.
"As always it's not really my favorite holiday because it would've been the last holiday that we had with him and I got so much joy today seeing how happy this made everyone," she said.
Veterans and family who stopped by the exhibition said they were touched to see the photos of the service members on the trees.
"I have friends that I lost in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's nice to see their memories being honored like this," Jones said.
Egerter said she is looking for a permanent home for the exhibition and funding to expand the travel element of the exhibition. In the meantime, a smaller version of the Tree of Valor project is at Cooper's Vintage Village in Kernersville.