Soldiers paused to grieve for their fallen brethren in observances held in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait over the Memorial Day weekend.

While the days passed without special events at some of the smaller outposts, the bigger bases were able to muster the resources for wreath-laying, speeches, and name-readings marked by solemnity and reflection.

About 100 people attended a service Saturday at Forward Operating Base Marez in Mosul, Iraq, said Maj. Larry Holland, the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment chaplain.

Soldiers sang patriotic and religious songs, read poems and did a spiritual dance. There was also a moment of silence while a speaker read the names of the 22 people in the 3rd ACR task force who have been killed since the unit deployed to Mosul at the end of 2007.

Holland reminded those at the service about the meaning of Memorial Day by telling them how the holiday originated from Declaration Day. That holiday started after the Civil War as a way for citizens to decorate the graves of those killed on both sides. The chaplain compared the Memorial Day tradition to the way the Bible says the Israelites piled stones to remember the 12 original tribes.

"The sad thing is, too many people have forgotten what Memorial Day was about," Holland said Monday. "It’s become, ‘Let’s go to the lake and have a party.’ We need to erect memorials within our hearts and minds — not just stone monuments, but a continuous memorial in our hearts and minds."

At Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, about 300 people gathered under leaden skies after a rainstorm, as Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Schloesser, commander of Combined Joint Task Force-101, gave a speech Monday afternoon honoring those troops who died in the nation’s wars.

"Today, we honor those who have committed to being part of something larger than themselves," Schloesser said.

About 300 people, most of them U.S. troops, attended the ceremony. A handful of civilians and soldiers from other coalition countries were also present.

Schloesser noted that more than 4,000 Americans have died in Iraq and several hundred more in Afghanistan.

Those who gave their lives, the general said, were "ordinary people," who answered the call of duty. None of them, he said, woke up on the day of their deaths, expecting to receive a Purple Heart or to sacrifice themselves for their country. Still, "they answered the call for a higher purpose," he said.

"These were young men and women who stood up and said, ‘I’ll defend my country and sacrifice myself for others,’ " he said.

A bagpiper played "Amazing Grace," and a bugler played taps as an honor guard of seven fired three salvos in tribute to the fallen.

Earlier in the day, troops at Bagram held a ceremony to honor the latest soldier killed in Afghanistan before the soldier’s body was placed on an aircraft and shipped home.

Also, base officials held a naturalization ceremony in which 44 servicemembers from 21 countries, ranging from Jamaica to Australia, were sworn in as U.S. citizens.

"I have been out on the front lines doing what I can for my nation — and now I can officially call America home," Marine Lance Cpl. Artem Starovoyt, a Ukraine native, was quoted as saying in a news release.

In Kabul, a service was held at Camp Eggers on Monday to honor fallen servicemembers, particularly those with Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan.

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