By GINNY COOPER MCCARLEY / Staff Writer

MONTEVALLO—The fifth annual Keep the Spirit of ’45 Alive event looks to honor veterans and citizens who were alive during WWII.

“It’s a very patriotic event to honor not only WWII veterans, but also to honor the whole generation,” said Bob Barefield, chairman for the support committee for the Alabama National Cemetery.

The event is part of a nationwide program marking the end of the war. Across the country, different organizations in every time zone play taps at 7 p.m., with the last played at Pearl Harbor, Barefield said.

Keep the Spirit of ’45 Alive begins at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 9 at the Alabama National Cemetery. The program includes a flyover, patriotic music and a wreath laying to mark the 70^th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. Marion “Pete” Edwards, a WWII veteran who fought on Omaha Beach during the invasion, will lay the wreath.

The program ends at 7 p.m., with taps played by Gene Ramsay and Jim Quakenbush.

More than 50 WWII veterans attended the ceremony last year, and Barefield hopes the number will be similar for this event.

“We’re looking for a good crowd,” he said.