Kelly Koike and his fellow band members had big boots to fill.

The 17-year-old Leilehua High School junior was among the 40 school band members who wound up standing in for the U.S. Army band at the Punchbowl Memorial Day ceremony, which was held yesterday.

The Army band, an annual mainstay at the ceremony, recently was deployed to Iraq.

"It was kind of scary, because we had heard them play before, and we had to play up to their level," said Koike, who plays alto saxophone.

The band's renditions of the national anthem and the state anthem, "Hawai'i Pono'i," were among the highlights at the ceremony at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, which was attended by more than 2,500 Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts and their families.

The Scouts and their relatives were on hand to post American flags and place lei on grave markers to honor the memory of thousands of fallen service members and veterans.

More than 45,000 are buried at Punchbowl.

For Koike, yesterday's event had special meaning: His grandfather, World War II veteran Todayoshi Nakao, is buried at the cemetery. Each month, Koike's family makes a trip to Punchbowl to visit his grandfather's grave.

"We felt really honored to play," added 17-year-old band member Dominic Macanas, also a junior at Leilehua High.

Yesterday's turnout was more than double the 1,000 who attended last year's Punchbowl Memorial Day ceremony, said Keao Miller, district executive for the Boy Scouts' Kapi'olani district.

"This is one of our bigger turnouts," said Miller.

"A lot of this is about understanding and paying tribute to veterans who sacrificed their lives for many of the freedoms we enjoy today."

Benjamin Ray, 8 of Hickam Elementary School, was one of thousands of children who paid tribute yesterday.

Ray said he placed about 20 lei on graves yesterday.

"It's a day that you respect people who fought in wars for us," Ray said. "I felt very proud."

Eight-year-old Kaili Caravalho of Manoa said it made him "feel good" to place lei on graves and salute military veterans, because of all they had done for the country.

Caravahlo's grandfather, Archie Caravalho, is buried at Punchbowl.

"It makes me sad and happy at the same time," said Caravalho.

Trey Young, 7, said he believes the Memorial Day ceremony should be a solemn event.

After attending last year's ceremony at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, the Makalapa Elementary School student came home and chastised several school friends who were playing on Memorial Day, said his father, Willie Young.

The elder Young, who is in the Army and whose father and grandfather served in the military, said his son attended last year's ceremony even though he wasn't a Scout.

But he joined the Scouts this year and took part in yesterday's events by fixing flags and providing lei for a number of graves.

"It made me very proud," Trey Young said.

Yesterday's event will pave the way for today's observances which begin this morning with Mayor Mufi Hannemann's keynote address in the 58th annual Mayor's Memorial Day Service.

Gov. Linda Lingle will deliver the Memorial Day address today at the Hawai'i State Veterans Cemetery in Kane'ohe. The Girl Scouts yesterday decorated graves there with flags and lei.

Reach Rick Daysog at rdaysog@honoluluadvertiser.com.