Boy Scouts carry a large American flag through the Memphis National Cemetery in Tennessee, where scouts also placed flags on 42,000 graves. At Dover Air Force Base, the remains of fallen soldiers are returned to their families. In Afghanistan, the top U.S. commander reads a 23-year-old's letter to his family that he had prepared to be read in the event of his death. "Today we remember his life and his words, for they speak resoundingly and timelessly for our fallen brothers and sisters in arms," said Marine Gen. John Allen, who also leads the NATO coalition in Afghanistan. Across the world this weekend, Americans are honoring the fallen, veterans and military personnel in ceremonies and private remembrances. Here's a gallery of AP photos from Memorial Day weekend.
AP Photos: Americans honor troops for Memorial Day
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Madeline Grace Wallace, 4, carries flags at the National Cemetery in Little Rock, Ark., Friday, May 25, 2012. The girl and her mother visited the cemetery to place flags on graves for Memorial Day. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)
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A man uprights a fallen flag at graves of military personnel and their families before Memorial Day ceremonies at Brig. General William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Wrightstown N.J., Saturday, May 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
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Air Force veteran and Anaheim police officer Brennan Leininger was "saddened" last Memorial Day when he realized more than half the 150,000 graves at Riverside National Cemetery did not have flags. He raised more than $15,000 and was able to purchase 21,600 flags that he and about 300 Orange County volunteers will place on graves Saturday May 26, 2012. Next year he hopes to be able to raise enough money to adorn all 150,000. "A lot of people just think it gets done," he said. (AP Photo/Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register)
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Members of Boy Scout Troop 450 and 278 lead the parade carrying a large American flag during the Memorial Day observance ceremony at the Memphis National Cemetery in Memphis, Tenn. Saturday, May 26, 2012. For 29 years members of the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and American Heritage Girls have placed flags on the 42,000 graves at the Memphis National Cemetery during a ceremony honoring veterans for the Memorial Day Celebration. (AP Photo/The Commercial Appeal, Chris Desmond)
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Matthew Russell, 11, from Memphis prepares to place American flags at the headstones of veterans during the Memorial Day observance ceremony at the Memphis National Cemetery in Memphis, Tenn. Saturday, May 26, 2012. For 29 years members of the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and American Heritage Girls have placed flags on the 42,000 graves at the Memphis National Cemetery during a ceremony honoring veterans for the Memorial Day Celebration.(AP Photo/The Commercial Appeal, Chris Desmond)
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Documentary filmmaker Michael Prescott, center, pays his respects at the Los Angeles National Cemetery in the Westwood section of Los Angeles, Friday, May 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
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Documentary filmmaker Michael Prescott, right, pays his respects at the Los Angeles National Cemetery in the Westwood section of Los Angeles, Friday, May 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
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Boy Scout Andrew Conquest of Brandon, Miss., looks for grave markers without a flag, at the Vicksburg National Cemetery Friday, May 25, 2012. Conquest and members of his Brandon, Miss., troop joined with other volunteers to place over 18,000 small American flags on the graves of the Union soldiers and other military in the cemetery. The flags are placed on the graves only once a year, during the Memorial Day weekend. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
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Evalynn Israel, 9, of Palmdale, Calif., walks through the Arlington West Iraq War memorial in Santa Monica, Calif., Saturday, May 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
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A visitor to the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial touches the name of a fallen soldier etched on the wall of the memorial in Washington, Friday, May 25, 2012. On Monday, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall will begin the national commemoration of the Vietnam Warís 50th anniversary. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
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Eileen Rivkin, 64, kisses a gravestone of her father, Walter Rivkin, who died in World War II, at the Los Angeles National Cemetery in the Westwood section of Los Angeles, Saturday, May 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
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World War II veteran Jesse R. Turner salutes while being comforted by Helen Marie Misel at a display of more than 1700 United States flags in Shawnee, Kan., Saturday, May 26, 2012. Turner served in the Army Air Corps. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)
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American Robert Dryfoos, left, from Conn., with Khalil Diallo walks around layers of tombs after attending Memorial Day rites at the American Cemetery in suburban Taguig, south of Manila, Philippines on Sunday May 27, 2012. The cemetery site contains the largest number of U.S. military dead of World War II. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
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Stevon Spears, 17 and members of Boy Scout Troop 445 salute the American flag during the Memorial Day observance ceremony at the Memphis National Cemetery in Memphis, Tenn. Saturday, May 26, 2012. For 29 years members of the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and American Heritage Girls have placed flags on the 42,000 graves at the Memphis National Cemetery during a ceremony honoring veterans for the Memorial Day Celebration. (AP Photo/The Commercial Appeal, Chris Desmond)
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Tyler Leviner is submerged in a dunking booth during a Memorial Day Celebration along Main Street in Dallas, N.C. on Saturday, May 26, 2012. Music, food, games and a car show attracted hundreds to the celebration which is held every year during Memorial Day weekend. (AP Photo/The Gaston Gazette, Mike Hensdill)
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Members of the Flint Marine Corps League stand at ease on a hill over looking at memorial ceremony at the Flint City Cemetery in Flint Township, Mich. on Saturday May 26, 2012. (AP Photo/MLive, Lathan Goumas)
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A member of the Flint Marine Corps League holds a rifle shell after a three-volley salute was fired at a memorial ceremony at the Flint City Cemetery in Flint Township, Mich. on Saturday May 26, 2012. (AP Photo/MLive, Lathan Goumas)
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A Marine Corps carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Cpl. Keaton G. Coffey during a dignified transfer ceremony at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Saturday, May 26, 2012. According to the Department of Defense, Coffey, of Boring, Ore., died while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. (AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt)
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A Marine Corps carry team lifts a transfer case containing the remains of Cpl. Keaton G. Coffey during a dignified transfer ceremony at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Saturday, May 26, 2012. According to the Department of Defense, Coffey, of Boring, Ore., died while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. (AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt)
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Senior Airman Sirintra Fisher closes the door of a transfer vehicle that holds a transfer case containing the remains of Cpl. Keaton G. Coffey during a dignified transfer ceremony at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Saturday, May 26, 2012. According to the Department of Defense, Coffey, of Boring, Ore., died while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. (AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt)
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A Marine salutes as motorcycles drive past during the annual Rolling Thunder parade ahead of Memorial Day in Washington, Sunday, May 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
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Members of Rolling Thunder salute during the presentation of colors during the annual Rolling Thunder rally on the National Mall ahead of Memorial Day in Washington, Sunday, May 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
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The Elite Honor Guard from the McGuire Air Force Base begin the military honor's ceremony inside St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church as family and members of the community attend a funeral mass for Tech. Sgt. William Kevin Colwell of Glen Cove, whose remains were found 46 years later in Vietnam, Saturday, May 26, 2012, in Glen Cove, New York. The remains of Colwell were recently identified at a military lab in Hawaii. He disappeared in 1965 when his plane crashed in Laos. He was 44 at the time of his disappearance. (AP Photo/Newsday, Steve Pfost)
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In this Saturday, May 26, 2012 photo, Christina Joyce of Girl Scout Troop 882 carries a candle while helping light candles before the 2012 2012 Fredericksburg National Cemetery Lumnaria at the Fredericksburg National Cemetery in Fredericksburg, Va. (AP Photo/The Free Lance-Star, Peter Cihelka)
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In this Saturday, May 26, 2012 photo, scouts light up more than 17,000 candles before the 2012 Fredericksburg National Cemetery Lumnaria at the Fredericksburg National Cemetery in Fredericksburg, Va. (AP Photo/The Free Lance-Star, Peter Cihelka)
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Fireworks illuminate the sky over the James River at Rockett's Landing near downtown Richmond, Va. on Sunday, May 27, 2012, during "Rocket's Red Glare," a Memorial Day celebration. (AP Photo/ Richmond Times-Dispatch, Dean Hoffmeyer)
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Gen. John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, observes Memorial Day by reading a letter written by an American soldier to his family before he died earlier this year, at the ISAF headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, May 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
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The grave of U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Michael Harris is seen through an American flag as the the sun rises over Georgia National Cemetery Monday, May 28, 2012, in Canton, Ga. Harris died Feb. 6, 2012, in North Carolina. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
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American flags wave near the grave of Marine Lance Cpl. Michael Harris as the the sun rises over Georgia National Cemetery on Memorial Day, Monday, May 28, 2012, in Canton, Ga. Harris died Feb. 6, 2012, in North Carolina. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
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An Army carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Spc. Vilmar Galarza Hernandez during a dignified transfer ceremony at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Sunday, May 27, 2012. According to the Department of Defense, Hernandez, of Salinas, Calif., died while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. (AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt)
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Gen. John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, observes Memorial Day by reading a letter written by an American soldier to his family before he died earlier this year, at the ISAF headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, May 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
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U.S. Veteran Edwin Dyer, left, and Jerry Pinkerton from Texas., walks along layers of tombs after attending Memorial Day rites at the American Cemetery in suburban Taguig, south of Manila, Philippines on Sunday May 27, 2012. The cemetery site contains the largest number of U.S. military dead of World War II. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
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Bettie Johnson salutes during the reciting of The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States at the 7th annual Memorial Day ceremony at the Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, Mich., on Sunday May 27, 2012. (AP Photo/The Flint Journal, Lathan Goumas)
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In this Saturday, May 26, 2012, photo, Zechariah and Jeremiah Winders hang out the window of Mark Winders' Point Man Ministries military truck during the Memorial Day parade in Coos Bay, Ore. (AP Photo/The World, Benjamin Brayfield) NO SALES; MAGS OUT
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