From atop the serene hillside on which the Plains Cemetery sits, a sweeping view of the Clark Fork Valley unfolds below.

In the background whispy fingers of impending rain seem almost surreal as they are lit up by the evening sun straining to break through the dark clouds.

Undisturbed by approaching weather and focused on the solemn duty of the moment, members of the Horse Plains VFW honor guard stand at attention as tributes are read explaining the seriousness and pride of the moment.

Those words, while comforting, need not be read to the several dozen veterans, friends and families who gathering this past Memorial Day evening to pause from their daily lives and give honor and thanks to those who have served the country and in some cases done so by the ultimate sacrifice...their lives.

And so it was that those gathered for the annual rite took a few moments from their hectic lives to stop and remember those who have died defending American rights.

From the cemetery the majority of the crowd traveled across town to the Clark Fork River bridge near the Sanders County Fairgrounds for a special tribute to Navy veterans.

It was there that Post Chaplain Otto Otness, a veteran of the Navy, stood in silence, his eyes closed like many of those around him, while words of honor were said. Then, Otness held out and released a red flowered wreath that disappeared into the churning water below as veterans saluted and non-veterans bowed their heads in prayer.

The clear message from the day’s events, those who served are not now, nor will they ever be forgotten.