Honoring family members who served is a personal devotion

Memorial Day brings friends and family members out to visit and spruce up the final resting place of those who served the US military.

It's especially busy at Ft. Snelling National Cemetery in Bloomington, where nearly 300,000 are interred.

Most bring flowers to lay alongside headstones, while others bring hand-written notes, balloons, and stuffed animals to decorate the gravesites.

After all, the solemn remembrance was originally known as "Decoration Day."

For Jay Wilcox of Minneapolis, a stop at the bakery is necessary before he visits his parents' grave at Ft. Snelling.

"I come out here and we have a donut together, 'cause he always used to do that," said Wilcox, a smile on his face as he finishes his treat.

He lays two pieces on the headstone which has his father's name on one side and his mother's on the other.

"It's just kind of something I do for myself, it makes me feel good."

His father was in Europe as part of the medical corps in World War Two.

This year's visit was different because he mother was interred last winter after she died at the age of 101.

That came about three decades after Jay's father died.

"Well, it's good," he said.  "They're together."

Gazing over the hundreds of headstones as far as the eye can see, Wilcox, who servered in the Army himself for three years, feels a sense of comfort.

"Gratitude" he said. "We've been handed this country by people that are out here. It's a moment for me to reflect on all that."

And he's already looking forward to having that next donut with his father.

"His birthday is July 6th," he said.

Ft. Snelling is one of 155 burial sites maintained by the Department of Veterans Affairs' National Cemetery Administration, and the only one in Minnesota.

Al Schoch's father, Al Sr., was a private first class with the 17th Field Artillery Battalion in Korea, where he also pitched for the camp baseball team. Al waves to his dad every time he takes the field for his softball team.