Amanda Doster, whose husband US Army Sergeant First Class James Doster was killed in combat in Iraq in September 2007, holds their daughter Grace Doster during Memorial Day ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, May 26, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) 

A stream of salutes and memorial activities were also scheduled across the nation, including a parade by marching bands and veterans units from all over the country in the capital of District of Columbia.

The Memorial day in the election year is also taken as a stage for presidential candidates to campaign.

On Monday, Democratic contestant Barack Obama held a town hall meeting with veterans in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where his Republican rival, John McCain, also appeared at a memorial for veterans.

The two senators both promised to do more to expand veterans' medical care and education benefits despite their striking difference in the Iraq war.

"As president, I will do everything in my power to ensure that those who serve today and those who have served in the past have access to the highest quality health, mental health and rehabilitative care in the world," McCain, a Vietnam war hero and former prisoner of war, said at Memorial Day event in Albuquerque.

Obama said at a graduation ceremony at Wesleyan University on Sunday that he believes the two parties could be unified in service to a greater good, although "we may disagree as Americans on certain issues and positions".

However, the Memorial Day also marked rise of US troops casualty in Iraq, after two soldiers were killed and four wounded in two separate roadside bombings in the country earlier on Monday, according to the military.

The latest deaths raised to 4,082 the number of US troops killed in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion.

(Xinhua News Agency May 27, 2008)