RICHMOND, VA (WTVR) -- Virginia added twenty names to the Virginia War Memorial Monday, an annual tradition of honoring those fallen since last year's Memorial Day.
The staff of the memorial estimates that more than 2,500 people will stop by throughout the course of the day to honor those who have given the ultimate sacrifice.
Perhaps no individual or family weeps more on this day than the families of those soldiers who have died within the last year.
Those families are given special recognition and the names and faces of the fallen are added to the section of the memorial devoted to the Global War on Terror.
Debbie Arthur traveled from Southwest Virginia to see her son's face and name added to to the wall.
"To see all these people here in support I think is amazing," Arthur said.
Arthur's son - First Lieutenant Stephen "Chase" Prasnicki - was killed last year by an IED in Afghanistan. He had only been in the country five days before his death.
"He left for Germany right after his wedding," Arthur said.
"It hasn't even been a year yet and it still doesn't seem real," Arthur added.
Arthur says events like this help Gold Star Mothers grieve.
While Arthur may have every reason not to be pleased with the military this Memorial Day, she has nothing but respect for it.
After all her other son is planning on enlisting in the military as well - chasing the dream Chase died for.
"He is going to be a terrific serviceman just like his brother," Arthur said.
