Another long hot Memorial Day weekend has come and gone. Why is it always seem to be unbearably hot on this weekend?

The holiday began for me on Thursday when for the first time I went to photograph the “Flags-in” ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. For the past 40 years, the 3rd U.S. Infantry or Old Guard has honored America’s fallen by placing small American flags in front of more than 260,000 headstones of service members buried at Arlington National Cemetery just prior to Memorial Day weekend. An amazing process that is completed in about 4 hours.

Unfortunately it begins at 4:00pm, a bit too early for great light, but it does get better toward the end. It was really something special to witness.

I went to cover the candlelight vigil on Friday evening at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, also known as The Wall. I have been going there for about 5 years now as part of a long term project on loss from war. My goal each year is to try to come back with one or two good photos that are somehow different from the thousands of images that have been shot there.

I was really pleased with the one above. Part waiting and part luck.

I was there a few hours early and seeing the sky getting dark, I was wondering if this was going to be another rain-soaked vigil. Seems most every time I come to do this event it rains. The lightning was flashing and the wind was picking up as people where starting to scatter. I decided to hang around when I noticed two members of Rolling Thunder determined to find their comrade’s name on The Wall before the skies opened up. I made the photo seconds before the rains came.

The storm blew through really quick and the vigil went on as planned.

On Sunday I had an assignment to cover Sarah Palin participating in the Rolling Thunder Ride and the circus that it promised to be. Since I knew it would be impossible to find her in all the riders as they came though the city, I figured it would be best to catch her at the beginning. I went to the staging area at the Pentagon early to try and hunt her down.

Since there was a lot of questions about if Rolling Thunder actually even wanted her there, I did not want to run around asking everyone if they had seen her yet. I found out where the T.V. people where and since the first camera guy I saw was with Fox News, I figured that would be a good place to hang out and listen.

Soon the rest of the wire services and the Washington Post showed up, so I knew I was in the right place and we all just waited.

Of course, she showed up 30 minutes before the start and it was a zoo. Picture about 20 media people, Rolling Thunder participants, and Rolling Thunder officials all trying to get close, with about thirty or so $40,000 motorcycles all in the way. It was a recipe for disaster. I still cannot believe that a bike did not get knocked over and someone didn’t get killed by an angry biker.

I managed to get some images of the chaos and after they started the ride I caught a lift back to the city with photographer Lucian Perkins and we made our way to the rally stage to see if we could catch up with her again.

After the chaos of Sunday, I was hoping Memorial Day Monday would be an easier day. No assignment, just my annual trip to Arlington National Cemetery. But with the heat pushing the high nineties and high humidity, it was another scorcher.

I have been going to Arlington’s Section 60 for about 5 years now for this personal project. It is not easy to make photographs there since you cannot help but feel like you are intruding. I always try to keep my distance and be respectful. It never ceases to amaze me though, just how nice and welcoming the majority of the families and friends of the fallen soldiers are to me and any of the media the happens to be there. Of course there are always some that would much rather be left alone, and I always respect that. You can tell when someone would rather you not photograph them. But for the most part, it seems that they want the rest of the world to know and understand the loss they are feeling. They welcome the chance to talk about their husbands and wives or sons and daughters that have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. There is so much sadness, but also so much pride.

The President made a surprise appearance to Section 60 following the official Memorial Day events in another part of the Cemetery. He and the First Lady stopped to speak to the family members and offer their condolences. Most everyone seemed to appreciate the gesture and the President was surrounded by people looking to get a photo or have a chance to tell him about their loved one.

He stayed for about 40 minutes, but you definitely got the impression that he would have stayed all day if he could. But eventually the secret service ushered him away.

Palin was not allowed to speak to the crowd, so after mingling with some of the Gold Star Mothers and Rolling Thunder officials, she left the venue.

I just finished covering the Memorial Day weekend in Washington, D.C. There is always a lot going on in the Nation’s Capital during this holiday.

But is it actually a holiday?

We do get a day off from work like any other holiday. People all over the country spend the day at picnics or at the beach. Many pools open for the summer over the Memorial Day weekend. There is a concert at the Capitol. For many is seems it is simply a long weekend of beach and beer and cookouts and concerts.

But if you hang out at any of the war memorials in D.C. or head over to Arlington National Cemetery it becomes evident quickly that for a large portion of the population, it is something much more. I stopped to think about it myself after reading “This Memorial Day, honoring a military that’s in isolation” by Washington Post Op-Ed columnist E.J. Dionne. He asks why every Memorial Day, a holiday set aside for honoring our war dead has become an occasion for beach-going, barbecues and baseball?

Anyway, it is hard to think about the beach or picnics when going to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to cover the candlelight vigil on Friday or the Rolling Thunder Ride to the Wall on Sunday. It is even harder on Memorial Day when covering families and friends of those who lost their lives in our wars as they walk through the hundreds of thousands of headstones at Arlington.

Here are some of what I think are by best images from the weekend. And just like Vice President Joe Biden was telling mothers and fathers of fallen soldiers that he was honored to meet them, but he wished it was not in a cemetery; I wish I was not pleased about these images.

On the seventh anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, protestors marched from Lafayette Park across from the White House through downtown Washington D.C., Saturday carrying flag-draped cardboard coffins and signs calling for thto end to all wars and to “Indict Bush Now.”

More images from the demonstration including the Arlington Midwest exhibit on the National Mall can be found on my PhotoShelter Archive (Click Here).

Stops on the route included military contractor Halliburton, the Mortgage Bankers Association, The Washington Post offices and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The ANSWER Coalition, sponsors of the protest, claims “Halliburton has become synonymous with war profiteering” and the Washington Post “has been a staunch supporter of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and continues to operate as an apologist for U.S. aggression.”

Retired Marine Corps Master Sgt. Charles Mullins of Beaufort, SC salutes the playing of the "Star Spangled Banner" during Veterans Day at the national cemetery in Beaufort.

This is a collection of images that I have taken over the past several years. I thought I would post them as a tribute to our veterans on Veterans Day.

A honor guard removes the casket of Esau Patterson Jr. at the family cemetery in Ridgeland, SC. Patterson died in Baghdad, Iraq, when a vehicle approached his unit and the driver detonated a bomb. He was assigned to 4th Battalion, 27th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Armored Division, Baumholder, Germany. Died on April 29, 2004.

The widow and children of Esau Patterson Jr. after receiving the flag that covered his casket during gravesite services in Ridgeland, SC.

Graveside service at Arlington National Cemetery.

A Marine honor guard holds the flag that covered the casket of a soldier during funeral services at Arlington National Cemetery.

LCPL Jourdan Grez's graveside service at Arlington National Cemetery. Grez was killed May 11, 2005 when his amphibious assault vehicle struck an explosive device in Karabilah, Iraq.

A wheelchair bound veteran visits the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial, also known as "The Wall."

Amanda Lamb, 21, sits in front of a headstone in Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day weekend. The stone marks the grave of her best friend, U.S. Army Spc. Justin Allan Rollins, a member of the 82nd Airborne.Rollins, 22, died on March 5, 2007, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his convoy in Samarra, Iraq.

Navy Capt. Nicholas Sabalos served in the military for 28 years. When he died nearly three years ago of liver cancer at age 74, he was buried on a hillside in Arlington National Cemetery.Since her husband’s death, Dolores Sabalos has made a habit of visiting his grave every Saturday. While she sits at her husband’s side, Mrs. Sabalos says, she tells him what she did that week and how the family is doing.

Charles J. Smith stood in the same spot in front of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial for more than an hour.Wearing a green army jacket and holding a framed photograph behind his back, Smith bowed his head and stared at a name inscribed on the granite monument. The name was that of a friend, James E. Pierce.

Two veterans of the Vietnam war comfort a comrade during his visit to the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in Washington, D.C.

A late night visitor to the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial over Memorial Day weekend.

Kandy Johns talks about her son, Lance Cpl. Jordan Lee Chrobot, USMC, 24, a Frederick native who was killed in combat in Afghanistan. Jordan's brother, Connor Johns, sister, Morgan Chrobot and stepfather Jerry Johns are in the background Chrobot was shot in the chest while on patrol in Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold.

One of the hardest things to have to shoot as a newspaper photographer is a funeral. Even harder can be going to the home of a fallen soldier to do photos of the grief-stricken family.

It is a bit easier when you are accompanied on the assignment with the writer. They kind of act as a distraction while you make some images. I think it helps to put the family at ease and they are not as aware that you are there.

Being the son of a career Marine who served in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, I always feel a certain bond with these families even though my father came out of the service unharmed.

Yesterday I was invited into the home of Kandy Johns, whose son, Lance Cpl. Jordan Lee Chrobot, USMC, 24, was killed in combat in Afghanistan. Chrobot was shot in the chest while on patrol in Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold.

I have attended four military funerals and visited the homes of about six families of fallen soldiers.

Even though everyone has always made me feel welcome, I do not think I will ever get to the point where I feel at ease intruding into their time of grief.