RICHMOND, Virginia –
Virginia’s senior leaders honor service members who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country at the Commonwealth’s Memorial Day Ceremony May 25, 2026, at the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, Virginia. Governor Abigail Spanberger and First Gentleman Adam Spanberger, and retired Maj. Gen. Timothy P. Williams, the Virginia Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs, and his wife Cheryl Williams, placed memorial wreaths to honor the fallen.
Maj. Gen. James W. Ring, the Adjutant General of Virginia, provided remarks to the crowd.
Sgt. Emeana P. McDonald led the pledge of allegiance and the 29th Infantry Division Band Fife & Drum Group provided music for the ceremony.
Members of the Virginia Defense Force volunteered their time to provide guest services and escort support.
“It is a pleasure to be with you on this solemn day of national remembrance in this sacred space of this Virginia War Memorial,” Ring said. “Let us remember with reverence, deep gratitude and overwhelming thanks giving for those who came before us. Who lived lives of sacrifice and service. Who gave their lives for the values we hold so dear of liberty, freedom, peace, justice, prosperity and tranquility.
“On this Memorial Day we come together to reflect on the price of freedom and to pay tribute to those who gave their lives that we may live freely every day as citizens,” Ring continued. “We will ensure that the memory of their lives of service is never forgotten. It remains in our hearts, in our minds and in our nation’s remembrance. We are forever grateful and we honor them for their selfless service and sacrifice.”
Williams also remarked how honored he was to be commemorating this solemn holiday on the grounds of the Virginia War Memorial, “Where every day is Memorial Day, and the names and stories of Virginia’s men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice are honored and remembered all year long.”
“We can all be proud that we Virginians have always been among the first Patriots to answer the call of duty,” he explained. “From the revolutionary war 250 years ago, through the many conflicts, since. And even though the challenges we face across the world today.
And here is truly no more fitting location to be than right here where we can gather on this Memorial Day to show our appreciation to the nearly 12,000 men and women who gave their very lives to protect and defend our freedoms. during World War II, Korea, the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and the Global War on Terrorism.”
Williams also asked to remember and pray for Gold Star families, families of U.S. military service members who lost their lives in the line of duty.
“I can say from a personal standpoint, from my days in the Army, that there is no sadder experience for a military officer than to have to deliver the news of a service member's death to their loved ones.”
Spanberger explained that, at that moment, Virginians were pausing together all across the state, including state military cemeteries in Amelia, Dublin and Suffolk, to honor those we have lost.
“There is no more important work that we could be doing. There is no more important place than we could be here today,” she said. “And for 70 years on this hillside, overlooking the James River, Virginians have gathered to remember, through years of war, years of uneasy peace, through grief, still wrong, and grief, grown old, through seasons of doubt, and seasons of resolve, every single year, we have come back here, together, to say, in one unified voice, that we have not forgotten it.
“Because that is who we are here in Virginia,” she said. “That is who we are as a commonwealth. And this year, the 250th year since the American independence and our quest for it, is particularly poignant, to pause and take stop of what exactly remembering really means.”