It was a Memorial Day unlike any in memory. But the spirit was the same.

Be it donning masks and watching video on a flight deck without crowds, joining a parade of cars, or feeding hungry veterans, San Diego County — home to the highest concentration of the nation’s military personnel — honored its fallen heroes Monday with socially-distant, pandemic-shaped tributes.

“It’s not about the audience, it’s not about the pomp and circumstance,” Navy Rear Admiral Bette Bolivar said during a gathering at the USS Midway Museum. “It’s about what’s in your heart and honoring those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.”

And San Diego’s beaches — the region’s other usual Memorial Day gathering site — saw plenty of people, including some who had to be shooed along for trying to get together in defiance of state and county orders.