Thousands of yellow ribbons hang at Arlington National Cemetery to honor the fallen
Inside the Women In Military Service For America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, clustered together through a sunlit, quiet hall, hang exactly 6,964 long yellow ribbons.
Each ribbon stands in place of a fallen service member.
The ribbons are from the Mindful Memorial Day Foundation, which hung all 6,964 to memorialize the troops killed while serving since Sept. 11, 2001.
Attached to each ribbon are black tags with symbols: the rifle, helmet and boots of a fallen service member and an incomplete circle, symbolizing mindfulness.
“The symbol reminds us that it is our sacred responsibility to honor service and sacrifice with gratitude and compassion,” a display at the memorial reads.
On each black card is a space to place the name of a fallen service member.
Visitors to the memorial Saturday, Sunday and Monday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., are encouraged to place a sticker with a name on a card and cut the ribbon down and take it with them. There are QR codes on the back of each card, linked “to a mindful moment of gratitude … to honor sacrifice with your fullest attention.”
The Mindful Memorial Day Foundation is a nonprofit created by veteran organization Armor Down in 2014 to honor fallen service members.
