In today's column, I write about the ceremony held yesterday at Crownsville Veterans Cemetery.

The event was moving, with a congressman and several military leaders giving speeches honoring the service of veterans living and dead. A bugler played "Taps" and Marines outside gave a three-gun salute.

I didn't write about some of the quieter, but equally moving, moments that happened before and after the ceremony. While dozens of people crowded into a cramped building, others, like Brian Eddington of Annapolis, shared quiter moments. Eddington came as he often does to visit the grave of his dad, Archie, who was in the Navy during World War II and died at age 85.

This cemetery off Sunrise Beach Road isn't as famous as Arlington National Cemetery. There are no presidents buried here. But the service and sacrifice being honored are just as real.
 
Justin Watts, whose parents I met two years ago, is buried here, across the street from the park where he played T-ball as a kid. Justin, a Marine lance corporal, died in Iraq in 2006 of suicide. It's still unclear why he took his life.
 
In 2007, James and Janelle Watts graciously allowed me to come with them as they went to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to read the names of some who died in that war -- a ceremony that symbolized the sacrifice shared across generations.
 
During yesterday's ceremony in Crownsville, Kenneth McCall, chairman of United Veterans of Anne Arundel County, urged the assembled veterans to tell their stories to everyone they can and have them recorded.
 
"Every one of you has a story," McCall said.
 
I had the same thought earlier looking at a headstone that said "Frank Howard Thomas, CWO, U.S. Army. World War II - Korea - Vietnam. July 28, 1924 - December 10, 2003."
 
What a story he must have had.