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Services planned for those who served the...

Posted at 12:20 PM, May 28, 2016
and last updated 2016-05-28 19:50:01-04

In the Little Arlington section of the Evergreen Cemetery, Michigan men and women who fought in battles from World War I to Operation Iraqi Freedom are buried.

And this weekend, those headstones are marked with the American flag and a cross.

"On the very first night of the air war in Desert Storm, the first planes took off and they were so low to the ground, they hit - one of the bunkers collapsed, killing two of the guys in our platoon," explained Army veteran Larry Heuer, Post Commander of VFW Post 7309.

He lost two friends on the first night of combat.

"It's not the way you want to start," Heuer said.

He says their memories are always on his mind, but especially during Saturday's Memorial Day ceremony.

"We've all lost brothers, sisters, friends and it's more of a solemn weekend for us. It's not so much the big parties, barbecues and all that stuff," Heuer explained.

The same goes for the members of the Lansing Fire Department who hold a service at their memorial each year.

But, this year's will be a little different with the recent deaths of Firefighters Dennis Rodeman and Captain Steve Babcock.

"It really has changed the feelings for the ceremony this year because this is the first time in a long time that we haven't been able to prepare for this because these people were taken away from us so fast," Chief Michael Tobin explained.

Rodemand was killed in September while collecting money for charity. Babcock died from cancer in February.

"We're still healing, this is gonna take some time," Chief Tobin said.

But, he added that the services help, allowing the family to come together to remembers members' service and sacrifices.

The Lansing Fire Department will be honoring six other retired firefighters who died this past year, none of them were recently active members.

That ceremony begins at 11:30 a.m. at the Mount Hope Cemetery.

The City's Memorial Day service begins at noon at the Little Arlington section of the Evergreen Cemetery.