Atascadero hosted its 17th annual Memorial Day ceremony to honor fallen service members. Loved ones shared their stories of heroes gone but not forgotten.
A flyover, presentation of colors, pipes and drums, and a flag line all accompanied Lieutenant Colonel Melissa Hughes on Monday morning at the annual ceremony.
“For a lot of us that have lost people, it's a very difficult weekend," Lt. Col. Hughes said. "Being wished a happy Memorial Day produces a lot of complicated feelings for veterans, family members, and Gold Star families, especially.”
Hughes is a C-12 pilot with the 370th Flight Test Squadron at Edwards Air Force Base.
“I wanted to be here today to talk about the people that I've lost in my service," she said. "That was just a few stories that I mentioned today. I wanted to hear from other people the stories about who they were remembering today.”
According to Hughes, about 4% of airline pilots are women, and that resonated with one family that lost their daughter who had finished Air Force training at 18 years old. She would have been in her 50s today. Her name, Laura Brown, was the first on the Scroll of Honor.
“Unfortunately, she didn't get a chance to do what she really wanted to do," Laura's mother, Joyce Brown, said. "That might have been what we heard today with this lady that had a flight, her own girl flights and how precious that would have been for her. She would have loved it.”
Family members not only of Brown, but others whose names were showcased on the Faces of Freedom walls, took time to remember their loved ones.
“This is such an honor because we don't have her in our family anymore," Joyce Brown said. "Except for all of the pictures and all of the things that we remember. This is what we have now. “
