JACKSONVILLE, N.C. -- Navy Gold Star Program hosted a Bells Across America for Fallen Service Members ceremony at the Lejeune Memorial Gardens in Jacksonville, North Carolina, Sept. 25, to honor service members who have given their lives while on active duty. The ceremony was the first event of its kind in the state of North Carolina.
Bells Across America recognizes the service and sacrifice of fallen heroes by reading out their names and commemorating their loss by the tolling of a ceremonial bell. The ceremony also provides a space for family members and friends to remember their fallen loved ones.
“As a Navy and as a nation, we recognize each of their Gold Star family members who are left behind—the mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters of those fallen heroes,” said Alicia McCoy, Navy Gold Star Program Coordinator.
Col. Gregory Pace, deputy commander, Marine Corps Installations East-Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, also provided remarks during the ceremony.
“To our Gold Star families, you are at the heart of today’s ceremony,” said Pace. “Your loved ones stood in the gap of danger and our nation. Please know that your Army, your Air Force, your Navy, your Marine Corps, your community, your country will never allow the memory of your sacrifice fade into silence.”