US Honors Veterans Over Memorial Day Weekend

The nation is marking Memorial Day weekend with somber ceremonies, flag planting at cemeteries and parades while President Barack Obama makes a surprise trip to Afghanistan to visit U.S. troops.  

In New York City, a Marines Corps chaplain gave a sermon Sunday at the Marble Collegiate Church. Afterward, worshippers planned to tie memorial ribbons on the church's fence.  

There will be gold ribbons for service members killed in Afghanistan, green ribbons representing prayers for peace and blue ribbons for the people of Afghanistan. 

On Saturday, Illinois Democratic congresswoman Tammy Duckworth served as grand marshal of Chicago's Memorial Day Parade. She lost her legs while serving in Iraq.  

In Massachusetts, a Boston Marathon survivor and his rescuer helped plant tens of thousands of flags at a cemetery to honor soldiers.

On Memorial Day, visitors to Rockford's Vietnam Veterans LX Memorial Peace Memorial will be able to see what those veterans looked like. The Rockford Register Star reports that on Monday, the memorial at Midway Village will include a ``Faces of Courage'' display. Led by Inis Bloomster, it took the local Daughters of the American Revolution a full year to collect the photographs of 79 men and mount them on a wood-framed display case.