More than a thousand people came to the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell to honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.
Cheyanne Decker is one of those people. She’s visited the cemetery every Memorial Day with her family, and other holidays, too.
“Every Veterans Day, every Christmas, every birthday, every anniversary,” she said. “We’re always out here.”
Decker and her family are from Spring Hill. They come to spend time with her brother, Cody Grater. Her older brother died nine years ago in Iraq when his barrack was hit by a rocket-launched grenade.
“They were guarding their barracks and that was it,” she said.
Grater was 20 years old and had been in the Army for less than a year.
This year – Decker's family isn’t alone. A few soldiers from Grater’s platoon joined Decker and her family to pay their respects to their fellow soldier.
“We were all deployed in Iraq with him,” Adam Larson said. “Cody was the type of person that you couldn’t be around him for more than 30 seconds without cracking a smile.”
It’s the first time this many soldiers of Grater’s were able to visit Grater’s grave. They’ve been trying to come as a group for a while and everyone was able to make it this year.
“Nine years later, they still remember him,” Decker said. “They’re still family and they still want to visit to honor him and see him.”
It’s been almost a decade, but Grater’s death is still painful for those who knew him.
“When you lose a guy like Cody,” Larson said, holding back tears, “he was 20 years old. He had his whole life in front of him.”
Grater’s story is like many of those buried at the Florida National Cemetery. Decker and Larson both said it’s important to remember the real reason for Memorial Day.
“It’s not about the barbecues and the three-day weekends,” Decker said. “It’s about remembering the people who didn’t get a chance to live out the rest of their lives.”
“If you look around, there are a lot of men who’ve given their lives to this country. So people could have barbecues and go to the sales," Larson said. “You wouldn’t be able to do that if it wasn’t for all these men who gave their lives.”