At Monday’s Memorial Day ceremony at the Vashon Cemetery, a large group of islanders gathered to honor and remember military men and women who lost their lives serving the country.

Chris Gaynor, a longtime member of the American Legion, said Monday’s event was one of the nicest ceremonies he has attended on Vashon. “The sun was shining; we had a good crowd in the right spirit, and Phil Volker (the American Legion commander) did a great job of including everybody,” he said.

The weekend before the ceremony, the Boy Scouts, the American Legion and Lisa Devereux of the cemetery put a flag on every veteran’s grave, totaling some 500 flags. “This is an opportunity to recognize the fact that out of such a small population, we have an unusually large history of military service and sacrifice by the members of the Vashon community going back to World War I,” Gaynor said.