KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — On Monday, veterans and active duty service members gathered at the East Tennessee Veterans Memorial for an annual ceremony.
At sunrise every Memorial Day, the names of more than 6,300 are read as part of the Reading of the Names ceremony. Volunteer readers read off the names engraved on the granite columns of the memorial, which honor people who died during military service.
Organizers said that in total, there are 6,316 names on the memorial from 35 East Tennessee counties who died during military service since World War I.
Dozens of people turned out for the ceremony and for the Memorial Day Service conducted by the American Legion Post 2 afterward. Jacqueline Bridgeman, an emergency responder with the American Red Cross, was also honored at the ceremony for her commitment to helping veterans in East Tennessee.