In a solemn Memorial Day ceremony at the Mexico City National Cemetery, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Antonio Garza participated in the laying of a memorial wreath.

"Those ideals cherished by democracies - freedom of expression, worship - only happen through service and sacrifice," he told the gathering.

As is traditionally the case, members of the American Legion Post #2 in Mexico City participated in the annual ceremony, including the trooping, posting and retirement of the colors.

In opening remarks Post 2 Commander John Lambuth noted that a number of Mexico City legionnaires had passed away in the last year, including Richard F. Johnson, Armand Goldansky, Frank Hill, Theodore Parker and Joe Nash.

"All of you who knew Joe Nash will surely remember Joe´s moving Memorial Day speeches," Commander Lambuth said.

The Civil War, in which, as Garza said, "brother fought brother and the best of friends became the worst of enemies," received special attention Monday. James Taylor, of American Legion Post 2, read Abraham Lincoln´s Gettysburg Address, perhaps the most remembered commemoration of those who fell in battle.

Four and a half years after Lincoln´s speech, on May 30, 1868, the first Memorial Day was observed in the United States.

The Mexico City National Cemetery is one of 24 commemorative military cemeteries maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission in 10 foreign countries. It was originally established in 1851 to provide a permanent burial place for 750 unknown U.S: soldiers killed in the U.S.-Mexican war of 1846-1848.