Military families remember lost loved ones Memorial Day Weekend

BROOKFIELD-- A sea of American flags decorate the Wisconsin Memorial Park Cemetery.  Cemetery officials say 1,500 flags decorate the grounds-- each one represents a member of the US Armed Forces who made the ultimate sacrifice or was buried with military honors. 



\"We had a local boy scout troop that's helped us in the past couple of years recently put them up,\" said Eric Trick, superintendent of the cemetery.



Sharon Frakes' father-in-law served in the US Navy during WWII.  She spent the afternoon decorating the headstone he shares with his wife.  Frakes comes to the cemetery each Memorial Day.



\"It means remembering our loved ones,\" said Frakes, \"especially the ones that served, but also the other ones that we lost.\"



As Frakes places flowers in the vase one by one, she also remembers another life, taken too soon-- her daughter Amanda, who died in a car accident in 2008.



\"She was my only daughter, I got to take care of her,\" said Frakes, \"she's not here, but she's in my heart, I still love her very much, I miss her dearly, so this is the way I take care of her.\"



Graduation time is always difficult for a mother who never saw her daughter cross the stage, but for Frakes-- Memorial Day is about celebrating the fifteen years they shared together.



\"Memorial day has a meaning to it,\" she reflected, \"they're all gone now, but you just have to remember them, and honor them.\"