Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Hundreds gathered at Camp Butler National Cemetary on a sunny Monday afternoon for a Memorial Day Remembrance Service.

US Senator Dick Durbin and Mayor Misty Busher, who addressed the crowd and participated in the wreath laying ceremony, were on hand.

Mrs. Phillipa Porter, a Gold Star Mother, sang the Star-Spangled Banner. Her son, Christian, was a Marine Lance Corporal killed in Desert Storm in 1991.

The Springfield Municipal Band was there to perform for the crowd and the event was highlighted by a playing of “Echo Taps” by Thomas Pasko and Mark Thomas with the veteran’s service group, Bugles Across America. The Inter-Veterans Burial Detail fired a 21-gun salute.

Camp Butler is one of the 14 National Cemetaries established by Abraham Lincoln during his presidency. Asst. Director, Christopher Webster, said over the decades 34,000 veterans and their families have been interred at the cemetery. He said about 700 to 1000 are added each year.