Park City marked Memorial Day under brilliant, sunny skies with a ceremony that touched on sacrifice and service as the community remembered the nation’s war dead.

A crowd estimated at more than 200 gathered Monday morning at the Park City Cemetery along Kearns Boulevard for the annual ceremony organized by the Park City post of the American Legion. The crowd included people from various generations standing among the gravestones for the hallowed holiday. They were largely silent through much of the service even as the noise of passing traffic could be heard in the cemetery.

The ceremony, as is tradition, was heavy with protocol, with the singing group the Treble Makers performing the national anthem and “My Country, ’Tis of Thee,” an honor guard presenting the colors and the playing of taps. The Treble Makers also performed Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and the traditional song “Shenandoah.” Numerous gravestones were decorated with flowers and flags for the holiday.

Mayor Ryan Dickey and at least two members of the Park City Council — Bill Ciraco and Tana Toly — were in attendance. The Park City elected officials were not part of the official program, however.

Meredith Reed, a former commander of the American Legion post, was one of the featured speakers, talking about the Civil War-era origins of the holiday and how it once was known as Decoration Day.

“On this national day of remembrance we gather to honor the sacrifices of those who served principles greater than themselves. Memorial Day is more than the unofficial beginning of summer, it is a sacred opportunity to pause, reflect and remember the extraordinary cost of freedom,” she said.

Reed continued, saying Memorial Day “calls us not only to remember the fallen but also to reflect on the ideals on which they served: duty, courage, sacrifice, love of country.”

“We honor those who never came home by striving to live lives worthy of their sacrifice. Caring for one another, strengthening our communities and preserving the freedoms entrusted to us,” she said.

Reed urged the crowd to understand the meaning of the holiday.

“This morning, together, we remind the nation and our community what this day truly represents by paying tribute and remembering the lives of those lost in the U.S. armed services and the immeasurable sacrifices made by their families,” she said. “Let us resolve not to let their sacrifice be in vain but to celebrate their lives and memory and to dedicate ourselves to serving the highest ideals of our country.”

Another featured speaker, retired Army Brigadier Gen. Eric Strong, referenced Arlington National Cemetery.

“A place my family and I walked many times while stationed at the Pentagon. From quiet winter nights at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to Memorial Day ceremonies at the amphitheater to silent fall mornings among endless rows of white headstones. Arlington, like so many of our national and state cemeteries, has a way of putting life in perspective,” the Heber City resident said. “It does not make pain disappear, but it reminds us that some gave everything so we can do anything.”

He added: “We gather to say to those who never came home, you are not forgotten.”

Strong told the crowd Memorial Day is not designed to be a celebration.

“It is a solemn day of remembrance and gratitude for those who left home and traveled far away, to places they had never heard of, places they never came home from,” he said.

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The annual Memorial Day ceremony in Park City is planned on Monday morning and will be held amid the conflict in the Middle East.

Shelby Hladon, the commander of the Park City post of the American Legion and a Navy veteran, said the war is a reminder of the danger encountered by people serving in the military. They understand they may lose their lives in support of that mission, she said.

“They’re willing to die for this country,” she said as she described sacrifices for autonomy, sovereignty and freedom.

She added, “When somebody lays down their life while serving, it’s pretty heavy.”

The event is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. at the Park City Cemetery on Kearns Boulevard. The ceremony typically involves remarks honoring the nation’s war dead and various elements of Memorial Day protocol. The ceremony usually draws a mixed crowd of veterans, families of late members of the military and Parkites wanting to mark the solemn nature of the day.

Eric Strong, a retired Army brigadier general, will give a keynote address.

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A Park City crowd marked Memorial Day on Monday with a ceremony that at times relied on protocol of the somber day and at other points poignantly reflected on the sacrifices made by the military as well as civilians over the course of the nation’s history.

The gathering, held under sunny skies at the Park City Cemetery on Kearns Boulevard, drew veterans and Park City-area residents who did not serve in the armed forces. Mayor Nann Worel, a Navy veteran, and at least one of her predecessors in the mayor’s office, Dana Williams, were in attendance. The people in the crowd ranged in age from toddlers to the elderly as the generations joined to honor the nation’s war dead.

Many graves were decorated with small American flags, flowers or both. Some of the people appeared to be stoically dwelling on the meaning of the day as they walked through the cemetery while others seemed to be visiting the grave of a loved one.

The Summit County Sheriff’s Office Mounted Patrol rode with a rider-less horse to represent the fallen. Many in the crowd joined as the national anthem was sung. Chris Taylor, the Park City High School band director, played the solemn notes of taps as the crowd stood at attention with the American flag at the cemetery lowered to half-staff.

Mike McComb, the emergency manager at City Hall and a veteran, delivered the keynote remarks, particularly speaking about the World War II era. McComb spent 30 years in the Navy and was based in a series of places abroad between 1986 and 2016, including Europe and the Persian Gulf. He started the City Hall post on a full-time basis in the spring of 2018.

McComb’s comments about World War II were especially notable. The number of World War II veterans in attendance at Memorial Day ceremonies in Park City has fallen over the years as they aged or passed away.

McComb described that almost one in 10 people in the U.S. during World War II served in the conflict. Families sacrificed, he said, as he talked about the “shared sacrifices of the generation.”

McComb described that World War II veterans provided a foundation for the nation’s strong emergence in the post-war era. He also talked about the costs of World War II, when more than 400,000 members of the U.S. military were killed. McComb mentioned Pearl Harbor and Normandy, France, among other places important to the war.

McComb briefly recited other wars in the nation’s history but did not spend time on them as he did World War II. He said the debt to fallen soldiers cannot be repaid.

“Freedom matters,” McComb said.

World War II continues to be of high consequence at the Memorial Day ceremonies even with fewer veterans of that era participating in the program or in the audience. During the ceremony in 2018, the program remembered the fatal crash of a bomber into Iron Mountain in the weeks before the United States entered World War II after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The crash was noted on Memorial Day the next year as well, as a plaque was unveiled remembering the accident.

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The Park City High School National Honor Society hosted their 8th annual Memorial Day 5K run at Dozier Field Monday morning, May 29, 2017. Participants began and ended the race on the track, which was followed by live music, food and a raffle. (Tanzi Propst/Park Record)

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