High on the crest of a Montana prairie that looks south to the Yellowstone River and southwest to the snow-capped Beartooth Mountains, Electrician’s Mate 1st Class Elizabeth Anderson held tightly to an enormous American flag.

In front of a patriotic crowd that included hundreds of veterans, Patriot Guard riders, and service members from the Army, Marine Corps and Air Force, flags were raised by respective branches of the service to officially dedicate the Yellowstone County Veterans’ Cemetery.

Anderson, the Navy Operational Support Center (NOSC) Billings funeral honors petty officer, raised the Navy flag alongside the service flags of each of the other military branches.

Brig. Gen. Stanley Putnam, commander of the Montana Army National Guard, told the crowd that the cemetery will be a place for veterans in the Big Sky area of Montana and Wyoming to be interred together as a band of brothers and sisters.

“I’ve seen cemeteries from Guam to Normandy, and each has a unique perspective, but none of them have a view like this cemetery,” said U.S. Congressman Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., addressing the audience.

A highlight of the service was a close formation fly-over by a UH-60 and a jet, both from the Dept. of Homeland Security. The service ended with U.S. Senator Jon Tester, D-Mont., a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, sounding Taps, the soulful notes hanging in the crisp, still air.

Prior to the outdoor dedication, a Veteran’s Day ceremony took place at the nearby Laurel High School. The ceremony included Marine Corps veteran Gene McDonald, VFW Post 1634 commander, sounding eleven gongs on the NOSC Billings bell in memory of the World War I armistice that was signed at 11 a.m. on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918.