Candlelight vigil held to honor 13 fallen service members

By Shanteya Hudson, Jordan Honeycutt

Click here for updates on this story

    ONSLOW COUNTY, Jacksonville (WLOS) — A community came together Friday to honor 13 fallen service members with a candlelight vigil, including one based out of Camp Lejeune.

Over 100 people were there with the organization “Remember Everyone Deployed” to honor the heroes that died in the terror attacks at the Kabul Airport.

Candlelight, prayers and a community in red filled the Camp Lejeune Memorial Gardens in honor of the fallen service members.

“Everyone all over, in the county, you just feel the pain and the sorrow and we just want to extend our love and just the way that we feel for them and embrace the families,” said Gloria DePaul.

DePaul said this vigil isn’t just in memory of the fallen but a pledge to never forget and to show support to the families and friends of those lost.

“I’m just asking everyone to never forget, don’t ever forget that someone’s out there fighting for freedom,” said DePaul.

A sacrifice community members said means everything to them.

“Means a lot for us to come here and just show our support for those families that are now dealing with the aftermath of their tragic loss of their loved ones,” said Mark Vesely.

People in attendance were able to send special messages to the families in personalized books, hoping to show the families they are not alone.

“Sacrifice means a lot for us, so for us to be able to support their families now means a great deal,” said Vesely.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.