Memorial Day 2013

More than a dozen Memorial Day ceremonies were held up and down the coast on this holiday Monday, between San Luis Obispo County and Ventura County.

Veterans, city leaders and local residents gathered at the Santa Barbara Cemetery near East Beach for the Pierre Claeyssens Veterans Museum Foundation’s ceremony Monday morning.

A similar ceremony was held in Carpinteria.

South in Ventura County, a commemorative ceremony was held at the Ivy Lawn Cemetery, where dozens of groups were acknowledged for their dedication to Memorial Day, including Gold Star Families representing Operation Iraqi Freedom and Prisoners of War.

A flyover of four vintage T-34 airplanes spanned the sky in the “missing man” formation, piloted by The Freedom Flight Pilots, a group of veterans who served in conflicts from WWII to the present.

The pilots made their way up the coast from Ventura to Atascadero, where dozens gathered for the Faces of Freedom Veterans Memorial.