Obama marks what he calls first Memorial Day since end of Afghan war

Participants in the annual Rolling Thunder motorcycle Rally
(Image credit: (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana))

President Obama is heading to Arlington National Cemetery on Monday to mark Memorial Day.

Obama said the annual holiday honoring America's war dead was especially meaningful this year because it is "the first Memorial Day since our war ended in Afghanistan." The U.S. still has about 9,800 troops expected to remain in Afghanistan until next year, though.

Observances began a day early on Sunday, when thousands of motorcycle riders participated in the annual Rolling Thunder rally in Washington, D.C., to draw attention to prisoners of war and soldiers missing in action.

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Harold Maass

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at TheWeek.com. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 launch of the U.S. print edition. Harold has worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, Fox News, and ABC News. For several years, he wrote a daily round-up of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance. He lives in North Carolina with his wife and two sons.