Dozens gather at Portland’s Willamette National Cemetery to honor veterans, fallen service members

More than 100 people gathered at Willamette National Cemetery on Monday to celebrate Memorial Day, a day of remembrance for military veterans living and dead.

A ceremony was held at 10 a.m. that included speakers and music performed by the 234th Army band and the Portland Police Highland Guard Pipe Band. The Oregon Air National Guard’s 142nd Fighter Wing performed a fly over as well.

The F-15s zoomed over similar ceremonies held across the state on Monday.

Following the playing of TAPS and a 21 gun-salute, it began to rain as the public event came to a close. Many of the 150 or so people in attendance left the cemetery.

In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill to create a national cemetery in the Portland Area. However, Willamette National Cemetery wasn’t built and designated as a national cemetery until 1950 and the first burial was done the following year. The cemetery now encompasses nearly 300 acres.