Vineyard students honored fallen soldiers on Friday with the annual March to the Sea tradition at harbors all over the Island.

Chilmark, Edgartown and Tisbury students traditionally take part in the events, but this year Oak Bluffs students participated too. Jeremy Light, who is in his first year as the school’s principal, said that he was happy to bring it to Oak Bluffs.

“I always loved the tradition,” he said. “It is more meaningful to the kids and helps them better understand why we’re not in school on Monday and what we’re observing.”

Students walked from the Oak Bluffs School to Alley Waban Park to recognize over a dozen Island veterans. Carlin Hart, the assistant principal, listed the names of veterans in attendance, including Robert Tankard, the veterans outreach coordinator at Martha’s Vineyard Community Services, and Deborah Potter, the town administrator.

The students then crossed the street to Inkwell beach to set the flowers afloat among the incoming waves. Byron Laird played Taps, and Brian Weiland, the school’s music teacher and an Army veteran, led the students in song.

“As we’ve learned about in class, Memorial Day is a somber holiday. We’re honoring not just all veterans, but the ones specifically who gave their lives for our country, so we’re going to sing this song as beautifully as we can,” Mr. Weiland said before leading the school in a rendition America the Beautiful.

In Chilmark, the students headed to Menemsha Harbor led by principal Kate Squire, first stopping at Coast Guard Menemsha to talk with local officers. Later, on the dock, students from each grade read poems, such as lines from In Flanders Field by John McCrae. Fifth graders Poppy Sykes and Ida Wiesner played Taps on saxophone and trumpet respectively, with band director Katie Cademartori supporting.

“We start preparing in February,” Ms. Cademartori said. “It’s hard for fifth graders to memorize it and hard for the trumpet to get in the high register.”

After a moment of silence, the students tossed their flowers into the water.

Ms. Squire is wrapping up her first school year as principal at the school. She said that participating in her first March to the Sea was rewarding.

“It was so beautiful and powerful,” she said. “I think the students really felt the moment. They asked such thoughtful questions [to the Coast Guard officers] and it felt like a really special day to me.”

In Tisbury, some 300 American flags — and countless flowers — waved proudly in the hands of the school children, the youngest of whom also sported tall red, white and blue paper hats with stars as they marched down the center line of Spring street on their way to Vineyard Haven harbor just after noon.

As the school band — more than 30 students strong — belted out Eye of the Tiger, neighbors along the route came out to watch the parade, which picked up more spectators as it turned onto Main street.

Led by Tisbury police and two honor guards — one from the Coast Guard and one from the school — the procession made its way to Owen Park, where an advance guard of eighth-graders stood ready to guide their younger schoolmates safely along the pier.

After filing to the end of the dock to give their flowers to the harbor, the children returned to gather on the park’s upper level for a brief ceremony, with eighth-grader Esther Coutinho acting as master of ceremonies.

The Coast Guard honor guard stood at attention on the bandstand as student trumpeter Isaac Rendon performed Taps.

Principal John Custer greeted the veterans on hand, including Army Captain George Pimentel, the new veterans services officer for Dukes County.

Army veteran Julius Middleton also took part in the March to the Sea, side by side with his third-grade daughter Diamond Rose Middleton, who wore her own small, skirted Army uniform.

A quartet of Tisbury School girls sang a close-harmony arrangement of the national anthem and music teacher Jessica Sanseverino led the entire crowd — students and teachers, family members and spectators alike — in singing America the Beautiful, with the band playing along.

“This is my favorite day of the school year,” assistant principal Melissa Ogden told the Gazette.

In Edgartown, students wore red, white and blue and walked from the school to Memorial Wharf. The route took them down Main street, pausing at the Korean and Vietnam War Memorial outside the courthouse to lay a basket of red, white and blue flowers beside it.

As townspeople waved, the students then made their way to Memorial Wharf where the Eagle band greeted them with a rendition of Yankee Doodle Dandy.

This year’s speaker was Kenny MacDonald, a U.S. Navy seal who served in Afghanistan before he was honorably discharged in 2015. He grew up on the Vineyard and has been working as an education support professional in the school’s bridge program for the past two years.

“For veterans, Memorial Day is a little different,” Mr. MacDonald told the students. “It’s personal. It’s a day filled with names, faces and memories that never fade.”

Mr. MacDonald said soldiers matter, not because of their uniforms, but because of their humanity. He shared stories about his friends who fought alongside him, and who in their final moments put the lives of others over their own.

“They walked the same streets and shared the same dreams and fears as you,” he said. “We honor them, not just in memory, but through action. Carry yourself with honor, integrity and purpose. Live to serve others. That is their legacy.”

The students handed all the flowers to the seventh grade class who gently tossed them in the water. Isaac Winters played Taps before the students marched back to the school.

Alyssa Bennett and her friend Heitor Loiola, both in first grade, said they wanted to uphold the soldiers legacy. They waved flags and smiled at everyone lining Main street, chanting their new mission.

“We are soldiers,” the two cheered. “We protect the town.”

More pictures.