HATTIESBURG, Miss. ( WHLT ) – The City of Hattiesburg and the Hattiesburg Veterans Committee held the 41st annual Memorial Day ceremony.

More than 170 names of fallen Forrest County service members were called while a bell rang out over the Veteran’s Memorial Park. The ceremony honored those serving from World War I to Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Each branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, as well as the POWs, was presented with a wreath of honor.

“We need to remember the sacrifices of these young men. They were all young. They all went off to war, from World War I to Operation Iraqi Freedom, and they gave their life. They gave their life and lot of them left families behind here. Several of the ones in Iraqi Freedom had children, kids back home, wives, mothers that still cry for them every night, and it’s a horrible thing. And we as veterans, as a community, we need to honor them and remember them,” said Ted Tibbett, chairman of the Hattiesburg Veterans Committee.

During the ceremony, Hattiesburg Mayor Toby Barker announced the City Council will soon vote on a proposal to name the terminal at Bobby L. Chain Airport after Jesse L. Brown. The Hattiesburg native was the first African American who gained his wings in the Navy.

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