CARTHAGE, Tunisia - Tunisian and U.S. military personnel, diplomats and family members gathered May 31, 2010, to mark the solemn U.S. Memorial Day holiday at the North Africa American Cemetery near Tunis, with the U.S. military delegation led by General William "Kip" Ward, commander of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM).

The final Monday in May each year is set aside in the United States as a day of remembrance for those who have given their lives in the U.S. armed forces.

The North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial, on the edge of the historic city of Carthage, is resting place for 2,841 American men and women who lost their lives in World War II, primarily in the North Africa campaigns of late 1942 and early 1943. Another 3,724 names are inscribed on a commemorative wall for those missing in action. An American woman living in Tunisia, who is a veteran of World War II, each year pays to have roses placed at the grave markers for each of the 240 unknown Americans buried at the Carthage cemetery. Bouquets sent by families dotted the gravesites during the afternoon ceremony, and each headstone was marked by a small American flag fluttering in a strong North African wind.

Ambassador Gordon Gray, the U.S. ambassador to Tunisia , noted that American military people both past and present have sacrifice their lives "not to conquer but to liberate." Speaking to the U.S. and Tunisian audience, Gray said, "Today we pause to honor those who have paid so dearly with their lives, and to their families and friends whose lives are forever changed and to whom we owe such enormous debt."

The ceremony included a Tunisian and American honor guard, a U.S. Navy band, and a contingent of officers from U.S. Army Africa who had spent the previous several days visiting World War II battlefields.

"Those who are laid to rest here answered the call to duty and fought in the air, on land and at sea," said Ward, commander of U.S. Africa Command, who spoke at the ceremony and laid a wreath on behalf of all U.S. military men and women.

"They deployed to places they had only read about, or in some cases had never heard of at all," Ward said, "to protect American lives and to promote freedom around the globe."

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