Emotions run high during Memorial Day service at Florida National Cemetery

BUSHNELL, Fla. - Many visitors walked along the long lines of markers that blanket the hilly terrain before attending the annual Memorial Day service at the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell. 

"You can’t walk by this, and not get choked up," Sabrina Williams of Spring Hill said. Williams and her husband brought flowers to lay on the graves of his dad and friend.

Dan Carroll, a former marine now living with his wife in Wesley Chapel, brought their kids to pass along a valuable lesson.

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"The land where they live is free. It was paid for with what you see behind me [glancing back at the graves], by many brave men and women," he said.

During the Memorial Day service, there was a gun salute, taps and the laying of a wreath to commemorate the lives that were lost. The keynote speaker, Retired Major General Joanna Sheridan spoke about the latest loss of life when 13 members of the military were killed in Afghanistan in 2021 when a bomb exploded in Kabul. They were trying to get civilians to safety before the Taliban took over.

"They will not be the last American heroes to make such a sacrifice," Sheridan told the crowd of several thousand. "But they are the very best of this generation."

So far, more than 7,000 have been killed because of the war on terrorism. More than 1.2 million Americans have been killed in all wars.