Members of North Beach VFW Post 8956 observed Memorial Day Saturday at the Grays Harbor Expo in Ocean Shores with a pair of patriotic ceremonies.

They raised the American flag outside of the Ocean Shores Convention Center shortly before noon, then went inside for a Fallen Soldier Ceremony.

Six Purple Heart recipients from the area were honored: Larry Dubois, Bill Vandenbush, Randy James, Damon Hurd, Laurence Hudson and Ben Ransom.

Also, the names of 20 fallen soldiers were read. “Pastor Bob” Hoem, the local post’s Chaplain and Adjutant, lead the ceremony that featured a symbolic “table set for one,” emblematic of “the price of freedom.”

Hoem explained that the ceremony honors people seen by most as fallen soldiers, POWs and MIAs, “but, folks, we call them our brothers and sisters.”