Annual Events
Ceremonies are held annually on Memorial Day and on Veterans Day at Camp Nelson National Cemetery. In the past these were held in the walled-off old section, but since 1997, they have been held at the assembly area at the flagpole near the front gates. At the Memorial Day ceremony, a keynote speaker is typically part of the program, as is a local high school band, a bugler who plays Taps, and a cannon salute. Representatives of reenactment units in Civil War-period uniforms are usually present to act as an honor guard. Represented units have included members from the re-enacted 54th Massachusetts Infantry, the all-black regiment that earned fame in the Civil War and fresh recognition from its depiction in the 1989 film Glory. In the past, the canon salute was fired by representatives from a U.S. Army Reserve or Kentucky National Guard artillery unit, though in recent years, the salute has been fired from a replica 19th century cannon, fired by Civil War re-enactors. The ceremony has been further augmented by a procession of a horse-drawn limber-and-caisson bearing an empty, flag-draped coffin, symbolic of the many military personnel who have died in the service of the country, which is followed by a riderless horse, an homage to their loss. In 2010, over 1,000 people attended the Memorial Day ceremony.
Read more about this topic: Camp Nelson National Cemetery
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