Honoring the fallen

Staff Sgt. Marvin Askew places an American flag on a grave during a Memorial Day ceremony May 30, 2011, at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, NY. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Joseph McKee)

CASF memorial walls

Service members left their marks on the walls of the contingency airlift staging facility at Joint Base Balad, Iraq. Since the troop surge in 2007, wounded warriors and top military officials have written messages as a way to commemorate their fallen comrades and to thank the JB Balad hospital staff. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Keyonna Fennell)

Wreath laying ceremony

Master Sgt. Michael Bosch, a member in the U.S. Air Force band, plays Taps during a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns, April 5, 2011, at Arlington National Cemetery, Va. The guest honoree and wreath presenter was Gen. Col. Alexander Nikolyevich Zelin, commander-in-chief of the Russian air force. The wreath was laid in honor of all fallen service members. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Christopher Ruano)

Wreath laying ceremony

Gen. Col. Alexander Nikolyevich Zelin, commander-in-chief of the Russian air force and Maj. Gen. Darren W. McDew, Air Force District of Washington commander, salute during a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns April 5, 2011, at Arlington National Cemetery, Va. The wreath was laid in honor of all fallen service members. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Christopher Ruano)

Memorial marathon eternalizes Bataan Death March

A participant of the 22nd Annual Bataan Memorial Death March receives medical attention March 27, 2011at one of seven medical stations along the 26.2-mile trail at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. Marchers trekked through rough terrain at elevations ranging between 4,100 and 5,300 feet. The event, attended by a record number of more than 6,000 marchers, commemorated the original Bataan Death March, which occurred in the Philippines during World War II. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Joshua Turner)

Memorial marathon eternalizes Bataan Death March

Participants of the 22nd Annual Bataan Memorial Death March trek through the 26.2-mile desert trail March 27, 2011, at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. The event, attended by a record number of more than 6,000 marchers, commemorated the original Bataan Death March, which occurred in the Philippines during World War II. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Joshua Turner)