Bobby Fischer sat alone beside his parents’ marble gravestone, tears welling in his eyes as rows of wreaths and American flags decorated the tombstones around him.

Fischer drove from Pueblo to lay a wreath on the gravestone, joining hundreds of other military families who came to Pikes Peak National Cemetery on Saturday to honor the more than 3,000 veterans and fallen service members resting there.

He was one of the first to arrive and last to leave.

Like many who rest at the cemetery, his father served in the military. He was one of many honored Saturday during the Wreaths Across America event, which aims to place wreaths at the headstones of fallen veterans at 5,200 locations in all 50 U.S. states and abroad.

Born in Missouri, Fischer’s dad, also named Bobby, joined the Air Force in high school to serve in Vietnam. His father worked behind a desk during the war because of his severe asthma, which prevented him from going to the front lines. But Fischer said his father served in his own way, continuing his service in Greece and Turkey after the war.

“It’s hard to sum up someone’s life. You think about all the amazing things they did for you as a kid, how much they sacrificed. … They were amazing people,” Fischer said.

Buried with his father is his wife, Shirley, who passed about six months before he did about a year and a half ago. Fischer said he would bring his father out to the cemetery in those months, recalling a time his father had mentioned his peace about being buried in nature with the love of his life.

“When I come up to visit, I (sometimes) see herds of antelope and just know that he’s reconnected with Mother Nature. He loved the outdoors so much,” Fischer said.

The annual event garnered thousands to the Colorado Springs cemetery. Hundreds of cars lined both sides of the street leading to the cemetery, and even more were parked along roads within its perimeters.

For some attendees, the wreath-laying was a kind of reunion, with some spotting familiar faces among the crowd. For many of the veterans in attendance, it was a chance to shake hands, swap stories and engage in a little good-natured ribbing between former soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen.

Kelley McGrath, a volunteer, said the event has grown over the four years she’s attended. Her aerospace engineering company, Infinity Systems Engineering, started volunteering at the event.

“We wanted something special to do around Christmas time, and we discovered Wreaths Across America. It was an easy choice,” she said.

Around 15 volunteers, some of them veterans, were seen laying wreaths at the gravestones that didn’t have one yet.

The attention to detail and the community’s care of the grave site made it a perfect place for Sara Jimenez to bury her grandfather, Richard Patton.

The 76-year-old served in the Vietnam War aboard the Navy’s USS Saratoga. After that, he worked as a sergeant and a detective at the Pueblo Police Department before retiring, Jimenez said.

Jimenez said her grandfather was very picky about tidiness, especially when it came to his garden.

“My grandpa was very much a perfectionist, so when I come here, and everything’s so clean and organized — the grass looks nice. I know that he’d be happy here for his final place,” Jimenez said. “They do a very good job of remembering everyone.”

A few miles south, more people gathered at Fairview Cemetery in Fountain to place 348 wreaths at the headstones of veterans, according to city spokesperson Bart Bedsole.

In total, El Paso County had volunteers at five cemeteries — Pikes Peak National, Evergreen, Fairview, Monument and the Air Force Academy — in separate events.

Each year, more than 2 million wreaths are placed at cemeteries, memorials and historic sites across the nation, according to a news release from the Air Force Academy.

“This makes you feel good about society as a whole,” said Fischer. “With where we’re at with all the negativity in the world, it’s heartwarming to see the community still able to come together.”