CHARLOTTE, Mich — Hundreds of people lined the streets of Eaton Rapids Monday morning to honor the lives lost defending our country during an annual parade through downtown.
WATCH: Eaton Rapids observes Memorial Day with annual parade, ceremony
Richard and Connie Webb were two of them. They say they make an effort to come to the parade every year. Richard served 13 months in Vietnam just after graduating from High School.
He says its special seeing the Eaton Rapids community honor the lives of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
"Oh we line this street. I mean everybody's on the side of the street and it's just..." Richard said, waiving his arms in disbelief.
Monday's parade was followed by a ceremony at GAR Island Park, where the names of every Eaton Rapids community member who lost their lives serving the country were read out loud—from the Civil War to the War in Iraq.
Mayor Pam Colestock says honoring those community members and the others who didn't make it back to the U.S. has been a tradition for many years.
"We have many veterans from Eaton Rapids," Colestock said. "We've lost veterans in the various wars. And this community has always come out and supported those people and continue to do so. It's just something that's in us."
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