INSTITUTE, W.Va. — West Virginia remembered those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country in various ceremonies on Memorial Day.

“Over the time that our veterans have served over 30,000 veterans have lost their lives,” Navy Veteran David Starliper, who served in Operation Desert Storm,” said at War Memorial Park in Martinsburg Monday.

Starliper told the Panhandle News Network the war dead gave their all and they’ve also helped keep other veterans alive.

“Because of our brothers and sisters who died overseas we’ve lessons of how to continue to strive for better outcomes,” Starliper said.

At the Donel C. Kinnard Memorial State Veterans Cemetery in Institute, Honor Guard President Donald Ryan took part in the 11th annual flag burning ceremony.

“For a flag that has seen it’s last days, it’s worn and tethered, you don’t just throw them in a garbage can, you retire them,” Ryan said. “One of the retirements is to burn them or bury them and we choose to burn them.”

Flags are dropped off at he cemetery all year long. There were several hundred to burn on Monday.

“Throughout the year VFWs will bring theirs out here along with individuals. We’ve had flags from all over the place,” Ryan said.

There were a number of family members of deceased veterans who were making their way through the white headstones Monday. Ryan said there are many heroes buried there.

“Those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country,” he said.

The ceremony at the Kinnard Cemetery included a gun salute and the playing of Taps.

A large crowd turned out the annual Memorial Day Parade in Grafton and the Memorial Day Commemoration Ceremony at the Grafton National Cemetery.

MetroNews reporter Chris Lawrence and WEPM reporter Marsha Kavalek contributed to this story. 

(This story will be updated)

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — In his final season leading the WVU baseball program, Randy Mazey has led the Mountaineers to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for just the second time in school history.

The WVU baseball team will play in the Tucson Regional. Arizona is the No. 13 national seed. The Mountaineers will face Dallas Baptist Friday in their first game. pic.twitter.com/67KYfYGz9I

— Joe Brocato (@joebrowvm) May 27, 2024

West Virginia earned an at-large bid into the field of 64 and the Mountaineers are the No. 3 seed in the Tucson Regional, hosted by No. 13 seed Arizona. WVU will face Dallas Baptist in the regional opener on Friday. The game time and broadcast information are to be announced.

Tucson Regional

(13) @ArizonaBaseball @GCU_Baseball@WVUBaseball@DBU_Baseball#RoadToOmaha pic.twitter.com/3dNXnv1oFo

— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) May 27, 2024

Arizona (36-21) secured the Pac-12 Tournament title in Saturday with a 4-3 win over USC. Dallas Baptist (44-13) is tied for the third-most wins in the country. DBU won the Conference USA Tournament title with a win over Louisiana Tech on Sunday. Arizona will open the regional against Grand Canyon.

The only other time West Virginia earned consecutive NCAA Tournament bids came under Steve Harrick from 1961-1964.

The NCAA Tournament bid is the fourth for West Virginia since 2017.

West Virginia (33-22) finished in fourth place in the Big 12 Conference regular season standings. After an 11-9 start, the Mountaineers won 22 of their next 35 games. WVU closed the regular season by winning two of three games at TCU. However, they were eliminated in two games from the Big 12 Conference Tournament. WVU is 36th in the official NCAA RPI.

Junior shortstop JJ Wetherholt (.356 batting average, 8 HR, 30 RBI in 31 games) and senior pitcher Derek Clark (7-2, 3.05 ERA) were named first team All-Big 12. Senior infielder Reed Chumley (.305 batting average, team-high 15 home runs) was a second-team selection.

Mazey has posted a 369-272 record in twelve seasons leading the Mountaineers. He will leave as the third-winningest coach in program history.

Winners of the 16 NCAA Regionals will advance to best-of-three Super Regional play. The eight Super Regional winners qualify for the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., which begins on June 14.

West Virginia finished the season 9-4 in 2023 and it is a big year for the football program for many different seasons.

So WVSports.com looks at just how much the Mountaineers have set to return in 2024 in regard to both snaps and production on the defensive side of the ball.

So, what do the Mountaineers have coming back?

–West Virginia returns 9 of the top 20 players from last season in terms of snaps played. That list includes No. 2 S Anthony Wilson (787 snaps), No. 5 S Aubrey Burks (703 snaps), No. 7 DL Edward Vesterinen (518 snaps), No. 9 DL Sean Martin (490 snaps), No. 10 LB Ben Cutter (464 snaps), No. 12 OLB Tyrin Bradley (327 snaps), No. 15 LB Tray Lathan (264 snaps), No. 16 DL Fatorma Mulbah (241 snaps) and No. 20 DL Asani Redwood (137 snaps).

–Those who will not return for West Virginia are No. 1 CB Beanie Bishop (837 snaps), No. 3 LB Lee Kpogba (777 snaps), No. 4 CB Malachi Ruffin (742 snaps), No. 6 OLB Jared Bartlett (578 snaps), No. 8 S Marcis Floyd (492 snaps), No. 11 DL Mike Lockhart (409 snaps), No. 13 S Hershey McLaurin (302 snaps), No. 14 DL Tomiwa Durojaiye (270 snaps), No. 17 DL Jalen Thornton (217 snaps), No. 18 LB Lance Dixon (182 snaps) and No. 19 Davoan Hawkins (152 snaps).

–Generally speaking, the defensive line was not hit too hard with departures with just Mike Lockhart, Tomiwa Durojaiye, Jalen Thornton and Davoan Hawkins leaving which is a combined 9.5 sacks and 22.5 tackles for loss. But the rest of the defensive line returns a total of 15.5 tackles for loss and 7 sacks along with four of the top eight players in the rotation back.

Related: What returns for West Virginia football on offense in 2024?

–Lockhart will be the biggest loss on the interior considering he accounted for 9 of those tackles for loss but with Mulbah and Hammond Russell the defensive line returns a lot. And Durojaiye is by far the biggest loss on the edge with 6.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks in limited snaps last season.

–At linebacker, the loss of Kpogba is a tough blow as he played the third most snaps on the defense and was the leading tackler with 97 stops, 7.5 tackles for loss and 3 sacks. The good news is that the other inside options such as Cutter and Lathan will return, while the Mountaineers will welcome back Josiah Trotter after he missed this year due to injury. Cutter, Lathan and Caden Biser combined for 106 tackles and all return.

–Outside linebacker returns Bradley after he played 327 snaps and turned that into 22 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and an interception. The loss of Bartlett will be felt as he played 50 games over his career and was the starter but the Mountaineers also addressed this spot in the transfer portal.

–Safety is a mixed bag as key pieces such as Burks and Wilson are back after combining to play 1,490 snaps and 127 tackles and 3 interceptions. But the loss of Marcis Floyd will need to be filled and the program added a pair of transfer safeties in Kekoura Tarnue and Jaheem Joseph.

–No position has been hit harder than cornerback with 1,579 of the 1,778 snaps played exit the position with the departures of Bishop and Ruffin. The two had almost the entirety of the production as well with 104 tackles, 5 interceptions and 25 passes defended. This will be the most wide-open spot on the roster with the coaches bringing in experienced and upside options from the transfer portal in Garnett Hollis, Ayden Garnes, Dontez Fagan and TJ Crandall.