-LRB- CNN Student News -RRB- -- May 31 , 2011 Download PDF maps related to today 's show : • Arlington National Cemetery • Joplin , Missouri • Texas Transcript THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT . THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED . CARL AZUZ , CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR : Back from the Memorial Day weekend , I 'm Carl Azuz and this is CNN Student News ! It 's a short week for us . It 's also our last week of the school year , so let 's go ahead and get started . First Up : Remembering the Fallen AZUZ : First up , Americans pause to honor service members who gave everything they had . Memorial Day is a tribute to the men and women who lost their lives while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces . Ceremonies were held around the country yesterday , President Obama helping lead the ones at Arlington National Cemetery . He laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns and later visited Arlington 's Section 60 ; it 's a site that 's primarily for soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan . During a speech , the president said the courage , unselfishness and devotion to duty of the servicemen and women who gave their lives is what has sustained the country . President Obama also said that Memorial Day is about the families who have lost loved ones serving in the military . The wife of a fallen service member said she sees Memorial Day as a chance to celebrate her husband 's life . NICKI BUNTING , WIDOW OF FALLEN SERVICEMAN : I want everyone to realize that these are n't just graves ; they are n't just numbers . They 're real people , and they had real families . They had wives and husbands and children and parents and siblings and friends . And so , that 's what today is about , just celebrating their life and making sure that everyone knows that these are real people that we 've lost . And so , when I get to talk about my husband , I love to laugh and smile when I talk about him and really share the great guy he was . AZUZ : For the past 40 years , the 3rd U.S. Infantry has had a special assignment . They 're the ones who place flags on every gravestone at Arlington Cemetery for Memorial Day . That 's more than 250,000 flags ! In this next report , two members share why they consider this responsibility an honor . -LRB- BEGIN VIDEO CLIP -RRB- SERGEANT CHERRY SMITH , IRAQ WAR VETERAN : Now that I 've actually served and came from Iraq , they paved the way . So , without them , we would n't be here . STAFF SERGEANT BRADLEY FALLS , AFGHANISTAN WAR VETERAN : It 's especially an honor for us when you 've been on the other side of it , and now you can come here and you can bring honor to their final resting place . Most of the leaders here are combat vets . They are coming from other units . They 've deployed before . We all know somebody buried here personally . SMITH : I thank them . I give thanks all the time for just doing what they did . There 's so many of us that have fear of doing what they did . FALLS : During our fifteen months , my battalion lost 24 soldiers and our brigade lost , I believe , 44 . We have three 173rd members buried here , to include my platoon leader , First Lieutenant Benjamin Hall . I try to visit him on special occasions , you know , his birthday or his passing . I usually sit down for a while and talk to him , let him know how things are going , how life is , and how much I appreciate his sacrifice and his leadership while we had it . He was a great man . Sometimes it 's a bit of a remembrance of good times and bad . You know , you 've got comrades in arms that have died and you feel for them and you feel for your families , but you try to put that aside to give honor to those that you can . -LRB- END VIDEO CLIP -RRB- Is this legit ? STAN CASE , CNN STUDENT NEWS : Is this legit ? More tornadoes strike the U.S. than any other country . This is true . The U.S. averages more than 1,000 recorded tornadoes every year . Tornado Devastation AZUZ : We 've talked about a string of tornadoes hitting across parts of the U.S. recently . One of the deadliest in U.S. history struck Joplin , Missouri . Officials say this massive storm tore a 13-mile path across the city . Recovery efforts are getting started , and the president visited the area over the weekend . Dan Lothian has the details on that trip . -LRB- BEGIN VIDEO -RRB- DAN LOTHIAN , CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT : Before touching down , Air Force One flew over Joplin , Missouri , giving the president an aerial view of the devastation . What took months and years to build was destroyed in a few moments : homes , businesses and anything else in the tornado 's path . On the ground , it was a somber president surveying the breathtaking damage up close . Meeting with officials , survivors , and promising not to abandon this city . U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA : What I 've been telling every family that I 've met here is we 're going to be here long after the cameras leave . We are not going to stop until Joplin is fully back on its feet . LOTHIAN : There is plenty of pain here , but also plenty of hope . Roadways were lined with thousands of people , some waving flags or holding signs with messages like `` God bless Joplin . '' At a memorial service on the campus of Missouri Southern State University , that escaped the tornado 's wrath ... OBAMA : We will be with you every step of the way . We 're not going anywhere . LOTHIAN : ... President Obama thanked the people of Joplin for their courage . OBAMA : You 've banded together . You have come to each other 's aid . You 've demonstrated a simple truth : that amid heartbreak and tragedy , no one is a stranger . Everybody is a brother . Everybody is a sister . LOTHIAN : Recovering from one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history will not happen overnight , but Missouri Governor Jay Nixon is optimistic about the future . GOVERNOR JAY NIXON , MISSOURI : Joplin will look different , and more different still in two years and three and five . And as the years pass , the moral of our story will be the same : love thy neighbor . God bless . LOTHIAN : President Obama also had a message for people across the country , urging them to get involved by supporting organizations such as the Red Cross , which is providing food and shelter for all of the people who have been displaced by the tornado . Dan Lothian , CNN , Joplin , Missouri . -LRB- END VIDEO -RRB- Texas Wildfires AZUZ : Moving southwest to Texas now , where officials and emergency workers are battling a different kind of natural disaster : wildfires . In fact , this has been one of the worst wildfire seasons in Texas history . Two blazes around the city of Amarillo forced hundreds of people to leave their homes this weekend . They were starting to come back yesterday as firefighters got the majority of those flames under control . Dry and windy conditions are spreading the flames , though , and that is what the weather 's been like in Texas for a while now . This video , another wildfire , is from more than a month ago . In total , hundreds of homes have burned ; millions of acres of land have been scorched by these wildfires . Shoutout MICHELLE WRIGHT , CNN STUDENT NEWS : Today 's Shoutout goes out to Mr. Sommer 's and Ms. Bensfield 's students at Nichols Middle School in Evanston , Illinois ! How many launches are left in the NASA space shuttle program ? You know what to do ! Is it : A -RRB- 0 , B -RRB- 1 , C -RRB- 2 or D -RRB- 3 ? Start the countdown at three seconds -- GO ! Atlantis is scheduled to make the next -- and last -- shuttle launch in July . That 's your answer and that 's your Shoutout ! Endeavour Undocks AZUZ : Atlantis will be dropping off supplies and spare parts to the international space station . That 's scheduled to be the last shuttle mission . But the current one is n't over yet . It 's getting close , though . This was the scene on Sunday , when the space shuttle Endeavour undocked from the ISS . It had been connected to the orbiting outpost for more than a week and a half . Now , Endeavour is on its way home . The shuttle is scheduled to land around 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday . That 'll wrap up its 16-day mission to space . And once it 's back on the ground , Endeavour will head off into retirement . Web Promo AZUZ : We are not retiring , but we are wrapping up the school year this week . Does n't mean we 're going anywhere , and neither is CNNStudentNews.com . We 're planning to have special shows on our site all summer long , plus new blog posts . So , make us your home page and check out what we 're up to while you 're on break . You know the address : CNNStudentNews.com ! Before We Go AZUZ : Before we go , hope you 're not afraid of heights . For example , a pair of intersecting tight ropes over a giant canyon . Apparently the young lady you 're about to see right here has no fear . Or , she just knows it 's all an optical illusion . It 's actually the world 's largest 3D painting . It 's on a street in China . But it looks real enough that some people said they actually felt dizzy when they were standing on top of it . When it comes to this kind of artwork ... Goodbye AZUZ : ... That sounds like the highest of compliments . And it proves that the artist should have no illusions about the quality of his work . I think you see what we mean . Hope you have a great day . For CNN Student News , I 'm Carl Azuz .