Image: Bikers ride in 32nd Annual Rolling Thunder in Washington

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Memorial Day commemorations around the nation

Memorial Day pays tribute to service members who died while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces.

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Image: Mike Pence, Patrick Shanahan, Michael Howard

Vice President Mike Pence, U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Michael Howard and acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan attend a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia on May 27.

— Patrick Semansky / AP
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Image: Volunteers Place Flowers On Gravesites At Arlington National Cemetery Ahead Of Memorial Day

Naval Sea Cadets pass flowers to one another during a volunteer event ahead of Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery on May 26.

— Tom Brenner / Getty Images
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Image: US-MEMORIAL DAY-ROLLING THUNDER-VETERANS

A father and his son, dressed in a Marine uniform, salute Marine Staff Sgt. Tim Chambers, "the saluting Marine," during the Rolling Thunder parade to honor war veterans in Arlington on Sunday.

The Rolling Thunder motorcycles that descend on Washington every Memorial Day weekend made their final ride on Sunday, ending a three decades-old tradition that was initially meant to pay tribute to fallen and missing-in-action soldiers.

The veterans advocacy group, formed in 1987 by 73-year-old Vietnam veteran Artie Muller, got its name from a 1965 bombing campaign against North Vietnam dubbed "Operation Rolling Thunder."

President Donald Trump gave the group a shout out on Twitter on Sunday and pledged that the annual rides in Washington would continue.

— Eric Baradat / AFP - Getty Images
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Tiger Scout Sam Moynihan, 7, from Oakville, Missouri, places flags on graves at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis County on Sunday.

About 5,000 scouts placed more than 150,000 flags in front of the headstone of veterans buried at the cemetery.

— David Carson / St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP
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Image: Bikers ride in 32nd Annual Rolling Thunder in Washington

World War II veteran and retired USMC Sgt. Bruce Heilman, 93, of Richmond, Virginia, waits for the start of the Rolling Thunder parade in Washington on Sunday.

— Mike Theiler / Reuters
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Image: The 16th Annual Bethapage Air Show for Memorial day

A member of the U.S. Army's Golden Knights parachute team salutes during the Bethpage Air Show at Jones Beach on Long Island, New York, on Saturday.

— Johnny Milano / Reuters
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Tammy and Pat McCullough visit the grave of Tammy's father, World War II Navy veteran Harold Guy Brown, at the Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis on Sunday.

— Richard Tsong-Taatarii / Star Tribune via AP
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The U.S. Air Force Honor Guard drill team perform in Miami Beach, Florida, on Sunday.

— Lynne Sladky / AP
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A man stands in the Fort Custer National Cemetery in Augusta, Michigan, on Sunday.

— Emil Lippe / AP
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