In a solemn tribute to service and sacrifice, Travis Early College High School in Austin, Texas, honored its fallen veterans with the reading of 27 names at a ceremony Saturday. The event, a staple since 2015, brought together alumni and their families to remember those who served their country and did not return. Among the honored was Daniel Vargas, a Vietnam veteran and recipient of the Bronze Star Medal, remembered by his daughter Veronica. "He is our hero," Vargas told KVUE.

Veronica recounted the legacy her father left behind, acknowledging the #1 metal – the Bronze Star – he received for his valor. "He made sacrifices and he is honored," she said. Vargas also revealed the cause of her father's passing in 2014, citing complications with Agent Orange, a chemical used during the Vietnam War.

Madison Veterans for Peace marked Memorial Day in Wisconsin with a visual testament to the losses incurred since September 11, 2001. In Olbrich Park, volunteers set up over 6,000 grave markers, each representing a life lost in the conflicts that followed the attacks on America. The organization aimed not only to honor the departed but also to emphasize the toll that conflicts take on families and communities, thereby advocating for less violence in foreign policy.

"When there is a loss it's it reverberates through the families and the spouse and the children and it it harms um families and maybe whole communities," a representative of Madison Veterans for Peace explained in a statement. The grave markers serve as a stark reminder of the human cost of war and the organization's hope for a change in how the government approaches international conflicts.