Seven score and one year ago, John A. Logan scattered flowers across the graves of fallen Civil War soldiers “whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet church-yard in the land.”

Logan was the national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic on May 30, 1868, and the man who declared the first Memorial Day.

More than a century later, a small handful of veterans, city leaders and Sparks locals gathered on the corner of Pyramid Highway and C Street beneath a flag flown at half staff, scattering speeches and praises throughout Sparks’ Memorial Park.

“Let us hold their sacrifices close to our hearts,” said Col. Robert Harington in his speech representing the Nevada National Guard. “The best way to remember is to embrace their sacrifice and not shy away from it.”

Since 2001, more than 62 Nevadans have died in military service. Six were from Sparks.

One elderly man sat on a park bench Friday beneath the shade, his Veterans of Foreign wars baseball cap festooned with pins.

“I don’t know what half of these mean,” said Harry Rice, an 86-year-old World War II veteran. “But this one is for good behavior,” he said pointing to an army stripe.

Rice set foot in France at the outset of World War II, remembering that the port where he landed didn’t seem very different from any New York harbor.

Then he went to Luxembourg and got behind the controls of an Army tank under the command of Gen. Omar Bradley.

Bradley commanded operations in not only France, but he also served as Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s front-line man in Northern Africa.

Bradley eventually became the leader of the largest group of soldiers to ever serve under one field commander. He oversaw 90,000 men.

Rice said he preferred to leave his military service stories in the past, leaving the tiny gold star on his hat and a scar on his arm to speak for themselves.

Three Sparks City Council members spoke at Friday's ceremony, each a former member of the United States military.

"As far as I was concerned, it was my duty to serve my country," Vietnam veteran Phil Salerno said. "I spent six years (in the Marine Corps) and I could have got out in two, so there must have been something that I enjoyed about it."

Councilman Mike Carrigan served 24 years in the Navy flying planes. His favorite memory of his military service was not being overseas, but coming home.

"Because we were pilots we could man up our airplanes and ... fly in," Carrigan said. "That was the best time because my wife was there with my two daughters. When I saw my daughters and my wife ... that's why I was doing what I was doing."

Councilman Ron Smith spoke at the ceremony of being proud to serve, but what he got out of his four-year tour with the U.S. Navy was an understanding of the world and pride in his country.

"My favorite part (of my service) was the places that I went," said Smith, who served during the Vietnam War. "Also, the confidence that the military builds, you can't get anywhere else. "

Smith's son is currently serving in the Air National Guard.