The deep tones of the Honor Bell rang out over Pikes Peak National Cemetery Monday, marking the first time it has tolled during a Memorial Day ceremony. 

Larry Peterson, a Vietnam veteran and Honor Bell Foundation board member who led a yearslong capital campaign to bring the 1,000-pound bell to the Pikes Peak region, said the sound was beyond words.  

The founder of the Honor Bell Foundation and former Army Ranger, Lou Olivera, who died in 2018, wanted all 157 national cemeteries to have an Honor Bell. The Pikes Peak Honor Bell is the second such bell. 

“I’m trying to carry on his mission,” said Peterson, who added that he has had help along the way.  

After years of fundraising, organizers dedicated the $400,000 bell in November during a ceremony at the Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center. It has since honored the military service of about 270 veterans during funerals at Pikes Peak National Cemetery, he said.

The new bell has extended the nonprofit’s presence to funerals regionally, recently honoring a service member in Cañon City, Peterson said. 

Before its completion, the local Honor Bell Guard borrowed the Denver-area-based bell two days a month, so it wasn’t available for the annual Memorial Day service.

The new Pikes Peak Honor Bell was forged in the Netherlands with artifacts from 12 veterans, including a piece of the USS Arizona to honor Donald Stratton, who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor, and World War II hero Floyd K Lindstrom’s Purple Heart. 

While the bell typically honors individuals, on Monday, it helped cap a well-attended ceremony at the national cemetery east of Colorado Springs, where about 7,500 veterans are buried. The cemetery opened in 2018 to serve the region that’s home to about 95,000 veterans. 

At the ceremony, an overflow crowd spilled onto the sidewalks and grass. Former Army Command Sgt. Maj. Leroy Kelly spoke of the personal grief that many feel for loved ones lost in conflict. 

“We remember the empty space they left behind, space that time never filled. That is why days like this matter so deeply. Not because we honor conflict,” said Kelly, a deacon at Living Word Christian Center. “… We honor sacrifice, courage and willingness to give something greater than oneself.” 

U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank, R-Colorado Springs, also addressed the crowd and honored Staff Sgt. Ben Pennington, 26, who was based at Fort Carson when he was killed in Saudi Arabia during Operation Epic Fury in March.

“Staff Sgt. Pennington’s service and sacrifice stand as a powerful reminder that Memorial Day honors not only our fallen warriors but also the families and loved ones who carry the weight of that sacrifice,” he said. 

Loved ones stopped at headstones after the ceremony. others pulled up a chair to sit near the deceased, while still others left simple reminders of their visit, like a shiny penny on top of a gleaming white headstone.