A packed house crowded inside the American Legion Log Cabin in downtown Fayetteville to pay honor and respect to America's heroes who have served our country and given the ultimate sacrifice: their lives.

The event, normally given gravitas by virtue of its location in Fayetteville's historic cemetary, was moved indoors due to the threat of rain. But it did not damper the spirits of the audience nor the speakers.

Army Lt. Col. Ben Malcolm, who spearheaded a covert operation in the Korean War, gave a full recounting of the various conflicts America was active with during the Korean War's timeframe. Still in the game, Malcolm is an instructor at Fort Bragg who teaches combat techniques to special forces units.

Rep. John Yates, the last remaining member of the Georgia legislature to have served in World War II, recounted "the horrors of war" and was recognized for flying numerous missions across enemy lines in his Piper Cub airplane. He referenced the line from Union Gen. William T. Sherman: "War is hell."

Rounding out the speakers was Fayetteville Historian John Lynch, who gave an accounting of the veterans in the cemetery from various wars and conficts dating back to the Revolutionary War that won's America's independence from Britain.

The ceremony was capped off with Revolutionary War reenactors who fired a musket volley that echoed through downtown Fayetteville, and the playing of taps by a bugler from Fayette County High School's marching band.