A list of 148,000 names were read aloud to honor deceased veterans.
Wired PR News – A list of names were read aloud to honor deceased veterans in Riverside, California Sunday. As reported by the Associated Press (AP), 300 volunteers began reading the names of 148,000 individuals buried in the Riverside Cemetery aloud Sunday, with expectations to complete the reading of the last name on Memorial Day.
As noted in the report, the individuals read the 2,465-page list in pairs in 15-minute shifts. The readers included people who had lost family members in battle, some who wanted to honor their country, and others who volunteered for no particular reason at all.
Richard Blackaby, who participated in the reading, is quoted by the AP as stating, “Every one that we read off, I feel like I am probably doing their family a favor because they can’t be here…I’m reading off a whole litany of history. It kind of makes you wonder what’s behind each name, what their life was like, what they did.”