Instead of a break from work or school, Memorial Day means a moment of “grief, pride and enduring love” for families of the nation’s fallen warriors, U.S. Space Force Col. James Horne III told a Santa Maria audience Monday morning.

“To our Gold Star families, to those who carry the weight of loss long after the ceremonies end, please know this: We remember with you,” said Horne, commander of Space Launch Delta 30 at Vandenberg Space Force Base. 

“We honor your loved ones and we recognize that Memorial Day is not only a national observance but for many a deeply personal day of grief, pride and enduring love,” he added. 

He spoke during a Memorial Day ceremony Monday morning at the Santa Maria Cemetery.

“Everything we have, everything we are is built upon the sacrifices of the service members ho came before us,” Horne said. “We stand on their shoulders.”

Their losses occurred far from home as they believed something greater than themselves was worth defending, but they ended up paying the ultimate sacrifice, he added.

“Their absence is the reason for our presence here today,” Horne said. “Memorial Day asks something important of us. It asks us to pause, to reflect, to remember that freedom is not abstract.” 

Other ceremonies took place Monday at the Santa Barbara Cemetery, as well as at cemeteries in Lompoc, Orcutt, Santa Ynez Valley and Guadalupe. 

Additionally, events also occurred at the Solvang Veterans Memorial Hall and the Santa Maria Elks/Unocal Event Center.

At the Santa Maria Cemetery, ceremony organizer Michael Stadnick Jr. bypassed a closing benediction, declaring singing “God Bless America” would be the most appropriate prayer.

“I think it gives us everything that we want in a prayer to honor our country,” he said.

Stadnick also recognized the Gold Star families, or those who lost relatives serving in the military. They included the families of fallen warriors Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Menusa, who died in 2003 while serving in Iraq, and Marine Cpl. Garry Rimes, killed in 2005 also in Iraq. 

Relatives of World War II casualty Ismael Castillo and Army Sgt. Thomas Castillo, killed in 1969 while serving in the Vietnam War, also were in attendance.

This year, Memorial Day fell on the anniversary of the death for Navy Reserve Cmdr. Duane Wolfe, who worked for 24 years as a civil servant at Vandenberg. The Los Osos resident was killed May 25, 2009, when an improvised explosive device detonated in Iraq.

At the time of his death, he served as the civilian deputy commander of the 30th Space Wing Mission Support Group at Vandenberg, where the Duane G. Wolfe Fitness Center is named in his honor.

“As we leave here on this solemn day, may we do more than speak words of remembrance. May we live in a way worthy of those who gave everything,” Horne said. “May we teach the next generation that liberty is not free. 

“May we carry forward the names, the stories and the legacy of the fallen so they’re never forgotten.”