PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Lt. Governor Daniel J. McKee was joined today by Governor Gina M. Raimondo, Brigadier General Christopher P. Callahan, Adjutant General of Rhode Island and Commanding General of the Rhode Island National Guard, Director of Veterans Affairs Kasim Yarn and other state officials for the annual Remembrance Ceremony at the Rhode Island State House Garden of Heroes.
The Lieutenant Governor and other dignitaries honored Rhode Island's fallen veterans with a wreath-laying at the Garden, which was dedicated in 2005 to Rhode Island service members who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country since September 11, 2001.
The ceremony was attended by loved ones of some of the 29 service men and women honored on the engraved monument in the Garden.
"Today we stand together to honor the Rhode Island men and women who served our country bravely and to express deep gratitude to the families of our fallen heroes," said McKee. "With the laying of this wreath, we honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom and pledge to remember them always."
"We will never forget, and never let our children forget, America's heroes. Today's ceremony is a stark reminder that the cost of freedom is steep but one for which we will be forever grateful," said Yarn." Our men and women answered the call to serve and committed themselves to preserving freedom. We will always be in their debt."
The Garden was established through legislation introduced at the request of former Lt. Governor Charles J. Fogarty. The Office of the Lieutenant Governor oversees the continued care of the Garden.