MULTIMEDIA: Fallen Maryland Veterans Honored at Memorial Day Observance

About 3,500 veterans are buried at the , and 10 more have been added over the last year. 

On Memorial Day, their graves were and flowers. Their families were honored with service awards. Decorated military officials—including Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown—spoke kind words about them. 

A crowd of hundreds gathered at the Timonium cemetery Monday to remember the nine men who died in the line of duty while serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. 

The nine men honored on Monday were: 

• Cpl. Kurt S. Shea, USMC, Frederick, MD, died May 10, 2010. 
• Sgt. John F. Burner, III, USA, Catonsville, MD, died September 16, 2010. 
• Lt. Brendan J. Looney, USN, Frederick, MD, died September 21, 2010. 
• SFC Lance H. Vogeler, USA, Frederick MD, died October 1, 2010. 
• Lance Cpl. Terry E. Honeycutt Jr., USMC, Waldorf, MD, died October 27, 2010. 
• SPC David C. Lutes, USA, Frostburg, MD, died November 11, 2010. 
• Lance Cpl. Maung Htaik, USMC, Hagerstown, MD, died January 1, 2011. 
• Staff Sgt. James Malachowski, USMC, Westminster, MD, died March 20, 2011.
• Capt. Charles E. Ridgely, Jr., USA, Baltimore, MD, died April 16, 2011. 

Air Force Msgt. Tara R. Brown, of Bowie, MD, was killed on April 27, 2011. She will be honored at the 2012 Memorial Day ceremony. 

The men and woman of the armed forces joined the Circle of the Immortals, a memorial plot dedicated to men and women who have died in the line of duty. 

“For many people, Memorial Day signals the start of summer, and perhaps that’s fitting given that we long for that warmth and beauty of summer as a time to spend with family and friends to enjoy the blessings of one another," said Brown, addressing a crowd of hundreds. "That wouldn’t be possible had it not been for the men and women that we honored today and the many that we’ve similarly honored for generations.

"Memorial Day is a day that we honor those who gave their lives so that we may freely live and enjoy ours," the lieutenant governor continued. "Memorial Day reminds of us the true meaning of sacrifice. These are the men and women who crazily said, ‘Send me, I will go’ when others could not or would not—the men and women who understood in going that they might never return to their loved ones.”