Kevin Bond places a flag Saturday on the grave of U.S. Army Technician Fifth Grade Reymond Dreyer Lucas, who served during World War II, in Friendship Cemetery. Bond is from Kentucky, but he was in town visiting relatives during the holiday weekend, when he heard about the group coming out to place flags in the cemetery and knew he wanted to come. Bond personally served in the Army from 1981-2003 and achieved the rank of Sergeant First Class. (Abigail Sipe Rochester/Dispatch Staff)

Loraine Wallace and Nelia Conerly place a flag Saturday on the grave of U.S. Air Force Technical Sergeant Donnie G. Buster, who served in both the Korean and Vietnam conflicts and passed away in 1984, in Friendship Cemetery. Wallace and Conerly were part of a group of volunteers from the local posts of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, American Legion and Boy Scouts and other supporters that helped to place flags on the graves of service members throughout the cemetery. (Abigail Sipe Rochester/Dispatch Staff)

Victor Pham, 10, takes a flag from Ben Baker on Saturday to place on the grave of Charles S. Youngblood, who served in the U.S. Army Air Forces during WWII, in Friendship Cemetery. The pair were a part of a group of more than 30 volunteers who came out to distribute flags on the graves of service members throughout the cemetery before a commemoration ceremony was held later in the morning. (Abigail Sipe Rochester/Dispatch Staff)

Jan Atkins, Diane Ford and Ann Marie Miller, who form the Suzuki String Advanced Ensemble String Trio, perform the prelude to the Memorial Day Commemoration on Saturday in Friendship Cemetery. The group assisted with music during Kyia King’s singing of the “Star Spangled Banner,” as well as playing “Amazing Grace” at the close of the ceremony. The ceremony was presented by the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau, and it included music, a brief history of Memorial Day at Friendship Cemetery, a reading of a poem and other reminders of the importance of the nation's service members in advance of Monday's holiday. (Abigail Sipe Rochester/Dispatch Staff)

United States Navy CB Calvin Boswell, left, and Ward 5 Councilman Stephen Jones, center, listen as Stefanie Christy, right, with the U.S. Navy Reserves Nurse Corps explains the significance of coins being left on military headstones during a commemoration ceremony on Saturday in Friendship Cemetery. Christy explained that anyone who visits the grave of a fallen soldier may leave a penny behind, to signify that they have been there. Higher forms of currency indicate a closer connection to the service member, she said, as nickels mean the visitor attended bootcamp with the soldier, dimes mean they served together and quarters mean the visitor was there when the soldier’s life was lost. (Abigail Sipe Rochester/Dispatch Staff)

United States Navy CB Calvin Boswell, right, passes the nation’s flag to members of Boy Scouts Troop 2, who acted as the color guard Saturday during a Memorial Day commemoration ceremony at Friendship Cemetery. Members of the troop that assisted included Coleman Martin, Winston Mauck, Devin Bond, Henry Borer, Bubba Fincher, Mark Alexander and Noah Wallace. While the troop initially placed the flag in a holder, Boswell noticed the flag beginning to lean halfway through the ceremony, and he jumped out of his seat in the audience and held the flag for the rest of the ceremony to make sure it didn’t touch the ground. “I did not want it to fall, no matter what was going on,” Boswell said. (Abigail Sipe Rochester/Dispatch Staff)

Roger Wallace plays “Taps” on his bugle on Saturday during a Memorial Day Commemoration in Friendship Cemetery. As the notes rang out across the cemetery, veterans in the crowd saluted the flag. The 24-note bugle call originally began as a signal for lights out, but it is now played at funerals, memorial services and other ceremonies honoring those who have died in service, according to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. (Abigail Sipe Rochester/Dispatch Staff)

Members of Boy Scouts of America Troops 14 and 142 lay wreaths in front of the veterans memorial Monday morning outside the Oktibbeha County Chancery Courthouse as part of the annual Memorial Day service in Starkville. The events included speeches for local leaders and veterans, patriotic songs performed by Starkville High School choir members and the ceremonial reading of the 92 names of county veterans killed in action since World War I. Zack Plair/Dispatch Staff

Bob Cunningham, commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 5573 in Starkville, reads the names of some of the Oktibbeha County veterans killed in action since World War I during a Memorial Day service Monday outside the chancery courthouse. The names of 92 such veterans are etched on a stone monument in front of the courthouse, and all had their names read aloud during Monday’s service. Zack Plair/Dispatch Staff

Sasha Harvey, a Scout with Boy Scouts of America Troop 142, plays “Taps” on the bugle during the Memorial Day service Monday outside the Oktibbeha County Chancery Courthouse. She played after her fellow Scouts placed wreaths in front of the veterans memorial on the courthouse lawn. Zack Plair/Dispatch Staff

Joe Fountain, a freshman at Starkville High School, spoke Tuesday on Second Lt. William N. Johnson, during Monday’s Memorial Day Service outside the Oktibbeha County Chancery Courthouse. Fountain researched Johnson, a Starkville native who was killed in Vietnam, and told the story of his military service during the ceremony. Johnson was one of 92 local service members killed in action since World War I whose name appears on a veterans memorial on the courthouse lawn. Zack Plair/Dispatch Staff