U.S. Army Central and the Area Support Group -- Kuwait honored fallen Servicemembers during a Memorial Day wreath--laying service May 30, at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait.
More than 100 military personnel and Camp Arifjan community members attended the service to pay their respects.
"Today, as we gather in front of our flag, we pause in this formal setting to remember the sacrifices of those Soldiers, those Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen that came before us," said Maj. Gen. William
Hickman, USARCENT deputy commanding general -- operations.
A few of these fallen heroes were remembered during the service in Hickman's remarks.
"A day I remember vividly was March 10, 2008 when I received word that a suicide bomber detonated himself near one of our units," Hickman said. "The report came in: five dead, multiple wounded."
Hickman said he arrived on the scene shortly after the blast.
"I will never forget the look in the Soldier's eyes after experiencing that horrible attack," he said. "I will never forget the sacrifice of those Soldiers."
Every sacrifice was honored at the service with the ceremonial posting of a wreath at the foot of the flagpole.
"We're decorating the graves, symbolically, of all the Servicemembers that have made the ultimate sacrifice," said Lt. Col. Joey Byrd, the USARCENT forward chaplain, from Moravian Falls, N.C., and the action officer for the Memorial Day service.
Pvt. Zachary Zavetsky, a USARCENT Soldier from Leland, N.C., was selected to lay the wreath with Hickman.
"They selected me because I was the youngest Soldier here in the unit," Zavetsky said.
The two Soldiers represented the entire spectrum of Soldiers, from the highest echelon of command to the lowest enlisted personnel during the ceremony.
"At the end of the day, we're all Soldiers," Zavetsky said. "We all put on the same uniform. We work as a team."
Hickman and Zavetsky laid the wreath at the base of the American flag and rendered a salute, together, in memory of the Servicemembers who will not be forgotten.
"Their memory continues in our hearts today," said Hickman. "For those Soldiers that didn't return, the family members, the friends and the grateful nation will always keep their memory alive."
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