Correspondent photo / Chris McBride Navy veterans Mike Salcone, 102, left, and Jeffrey Littell, 104, stand together after being honored during a Memorial Day ceremony at the Warren Community Amphitheatre on Monday. Salcone served aboard the heavy cruiser USS St. Louis and Littell aboard the light cruiser USS Montpelier, both in the Pacific Theater during World War II.

WARREN — Veterans and families gathered Monday to honor the fallen at a Memorial Day ceremony by reflecting on the personal cost of war and celebrating the living heroes among them at the Warren Community Amphitheatre.

Two Navy veterans who served in the Pacific Theater during World War II, Mike Salcone, 102, and Jeffrey Littell, 104, were recognized during Monday’s ceremony.

Salcone served aboard the heavy cruiser USS St. Louis and Littell aboard the light cruiser USS Montpelier.

Speakers paid tribute to local service members lost in conflicts from Vietnam to recent operations, remembered Gold Star families, and those with loved ones now deployed, and promised to never to forget those who couldn’t be there to be honored.

The laying of the wreath was done by Trumbull County Veteran Services Director Cari Delgado, who cast it into the Mahoning River. The symbolic gesture is meant to give honor to the fallen after standing in silent reflection during the playing of taps.

Jim Rapone, a Vietnam veteran and frequent speaker at the annual event, introduced the two centenarians as “true warriors and heroes” and “living memorials” for the hundreds of thousands who died in World War II. “They’re great people with “great stories,” he said.

Rapone also recognized the 13 American men and women who died during the ongoing conflict between the United States and Iran.

Mayor Doug Franklin welcomed the crowd and recognized local officials before focusing on the day’s solemn meaning.

“When we look around our community on Memorial Day, it’s easy to talk about freedom in a general way,” Franklin said. “But today I want to skip the abstract speeches and talk about the real cost … an empty chair at your dinner table. It’s a voice that you don’t get to hear anymore.”

He addressed Gold Star families, saying the community stands with them in their enduring sacrifice, and quoted poet John Milton in honoring those that “serve who only stand and wait.”

Rapone recounted the story of Trumbull County Army Sgt. Donald Layfield, killed at age 20 in Cambodia in 1970. He described Layfield as a decorated soldier with the 1st Cavalry Division who had dreamed of building a log cabin on family land in West Virginia.

Rapone closed by playing the country song “Riding With Private Malone” and asking listeners to remember Layfield and the more than 1.4 million Americans who died in service since the Revolutionary War.