A special event is honoring the fallen this Memorial Day weekend, and the public’s help is needed to make sure everyone gets recognized.
There are 6,964 yellow ribbons hanging inside the women’s memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, one for each service member killed while serving since Sept. 11, 2001. The plan is for each ribbon to be cut down, have a name attached to it and be given to a visitor, who can then wear it around his or her neck.
Ben King, founder and president of the veteran’s organization Armor Down With Mindfulness and the Mindful Memorial Day Foundation, said he hopes this keeps the names of the fallen alive and gives visitors a chance to “offer a mindful moment of gratitude.”
This is the sixth year for the event, and King hopes to honor every name for the first time this year.
“We have hundreds of people come through the memorial on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. And even with all those people coming through and honoring names, it’s still not enough. We still need more people,” King said.
Visitors can go to the women’s memorial between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sunday and Monday to receive a ribbon.
