Great Bend residents and guests paid respect to veterans Monday during the annual Memorial Day service at the Veterans Circle in the Great Bend Cemetery.“We are here today to honor our fallen soldiers and to thank them for their service,” said Bo Levingston, commander of the Great Bend American Legion Post 180.During the presentation of memorials, representatives from different organizations laid wreaths in honor of the fallen men and women. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the program adjourned to an area next to the Arkansas River bridge to honor those who died at sea.Chris Krueger of the Sons of the American Legion gave the keynote address. He is the son of the late Jerry A. Krueger, a U.S. Navy veteran who served during the Korean War in the USS Heerman DD532.Krueger noted some of the history of the American Legion, founded in 1919 by World War I veterans.