William Robert Moody, a 30-year-old father of three, was waiting at an on-base Afghanistan bus stop in 2011 when he was hit by a mortar, which killed him and three other service members.
Loren Buffalo, 20, was two weeks away from his 2013 return to Arkansas when he stepped on an IED and died.
Their family members sat at the front of a Memorial Day wreath-laying ceremony Monday morning at the Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery in North Little Rock. Their seats, reserved for Gold Star Families, were spaced into two groups of three chairs each.
Both of the men were killed in Afghanistan and had dreamed of serving in the military.
Moody was in the Army when he died, although he started his service and did a four-year tour in the Marines, his stepmother, Linda Wallace said.
"He's my hero," Wallace said.
Buffalo, who is buried at the state cemetery, joined the Army right after his high school graduation, his mother, Anjanette Buffalo said. He was just a few weeks away from turning 21, and had b een packing and preparing to go home, she added.
"He was the boy with the big heart and the big smile," Buffalo said.
Though both families said they were glad the ceremony took place, they've missed other events and the chance to connect with other Gold Star Families during the covid-19 pandemic. Buffalo mentioned the Arkansas Run for the Fallen, which was scheduled for late March and canceled because of the virus.
Attendance at the ceremony was limited, although the cemetery remained open for its regular hours. Attendees wore masks -- many printed in red, white and blue -- and chairs were spaced apart. A nurse at the front gate took temperatures.
"In many states, you will not see this observance," said Gov. Asa Hutchinson during the ceremony. "In many states, they have canceled their Memorial Day services, and I am glad that in Arkansas that we have decided to go ahead and to honor those who have given the ultimate sacrifice today, although it is under unusual circumstances and protocols."
Hutchinson mentioned the virus a few times during his speech, and referenced a photo of a football game in Arkansas in 1918 where people sat feet apart and wore masks because of a flu pandemic soon after World War I.
"Today, we face another enemy," Hutchinson said. "It is a deadly virus that cannot be seen. It silently attacks and kills. Almost 100,000 Americans have lost their lives within 100 days as a result of this new enemy.
How do we respond? Well we respond the same as Americans have responded for over 200 years. With grit."
The governor, along with Maj. Gen. Kendall W. Penn, the Adjutant General of the Arkansas National Guard, and Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Nate Todd, a retired Army colonel, laid the wreath in honor of Arkansas veterans who have died while serving in the military.
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World War II-era planes buzzed overhead, flown by the Commemorative Air Force, Razorback Wing, which is based at the North Little Rock Municipal Airport.
Monday's event was live-streamed on Facebook for those who couldn't attend.
"Without their service, the world would be a darker place," Hutchinson said. "... Throughout our history, men and women of valor have taken up arms and pushed back against the night."
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