VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WVEC) -- Joint Base Little Creek-fort Story has lost 88 soldiers and sailors since September, 11, and Thursday was about remembering them.
Little Creek is home to Naval Special Warfare, Explosive Ordnance Disposal units, and the Seabees, in addition to numerous surface and amphibious ships.
Fort Story is home to the 11th Transportation Battalion. They've deployed to some of the most dangerous places in the world many times since 2001.
The two bases have their fair share of loss.
Joint Base Commanding Officer Joey Frantzen wants people to remember the fallen.
"I just think it's really important, we think of Memorial Day and barbecues, and all the things that are not the purpose of Memorial Day, which is to really honor our fallen, and I think it's important that we say their names, see their faces, so it becomes real," he said.
At a special remembrance ceremony was held on Thursday at the Little Creek Chapel. The names of each of the fallen military members were read aloud, followed by the tolling of a ceremonial ship's bell.
The list just seemed to go on and on.
Eighty-eight names in all, representing each of the soldiers and sailors from Little Creek and Fort Story who have died since the terrorist attacks in 2001, and the subsequent combat operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria.
"And each and every day they're training and planning to deploy, and every single day, whether it's morning, night or afternoon, someone is deployed, potentially being shot at, fighting the bad guys," said Frantzen. "And, we're at home enjoying our freedom and sleeping quietly. So it's absolutely important that we continue to recognize our fallen."
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