Seaside paused Monday to remember the country’s fallen servicemen and servicewomen during a ceremony in observance of what was described as “America’s most solemn holiday.”

The Seaside American Legion Post 99 held its annual Memorial Day Celebration in honor of America’s military war dead.

“Yesterday, I walked out on the beach and I looked at the ocean and the sand and I realized I owe a debt to 1,355,000 million Americans who gave up their life so I could stand on that beach,” Michael Heuvelhorst, an officer of the Seaside Elks Lodge. “I just can’t imagine what it would take to repay that debt.”

The liberty Americans have today — to celebrate the national holiday, to spend time with their loved ones — was paid for by those who gave their lives fighting for the country.

“We need to remember this not only today, but every day,” Heuvelhorst said.

Col. Michael Becker, from the Camp Rilea Armed Forces Training Center, gave a brief history of Memorial Day, which he called “America’s most solemn holiday.

“This day is observed on the last Monday of May,” he said. “It is the day we set aside in which we give honor to the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military.”

The history is important, Becker said, to understand its significance. He urged the audience to share with their children “what this day is all about.”

The event was capped by the traditional wreath-laying ceremony. Standing atop the Broadway Bridge and accompanied by First Vice Commander Brad Moore, Greg McCollum, of Seaside, laid a wreath in the Neawanna Creek in memory and celebration of his father, Jack McCollum, who served in the Korean War and died in November.

Although Jack McCollum received a Bronze Star and was proud of his service to the United States, “he was a very quiet individual,” and kept silent regarding his memories of the war, Greg McCollum said.

“Most of the guys are silent,” he added.

To have the life and service of his father, who was a member of the Seaside American Legion, remembered during the Memorial Day service was “overwhelming,” McCollum said.

“It’s very special,” he said.

The ceremony also included the singing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “God Bless America,” by Kayla Vowels, and “Amazing Grace,” by Maureen Boggs, a member of the Seaside American Legion Auxiliary.

Instead of an opening prayer, Post 99 Chaplain Jeanie Peterman shared lines from war poem “In Flanders Field,” which is written from the perspective of those who died in conflict.