The Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale was filled Sunday with people paying respects to veterans lost to wars.

On Memorial Day weekend, Long Islanders took part in a wreath-laying ceremony remembering soldiers who were killed in action during wars past and present. Officials say the Long Island National Cemetery is the final resting place for 42 people killed in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2003.

Dorothy Oxendine, whose son was killed more than 40 years ago, says she can never forget.

"I became a Gold Star mom on Memorial Day, 1968, when my only son was killed on Hill 881 South in Vietnam," she says.