After battling holiday traffic on Friday afternoon, Brig. Gen. William F. Duffy made a pilgrimage to the Marietta National Military Cemetery.
As he passed through the gates that day, he was immediately struck by a feeling of peace and serenity while he walked the rows of the 18,839 military veterans buried there.
On Monday afternoon, in the soupy heat on the cemetery grounds, Duffy, a commanding general at Fort Belvoir in Virginia, read some of the names he encountered as he wound through the tombstones, each one decorated with a miniature flag.
“This is a day to honor those who sacrificed for service,” he said from the pulpit under the marble arch to the 1,000 or so gathered to observe Memorial Day.
The Marietta program, which included a dais of dignitaries including Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens, was one of the largest memorial services held in metro Atlanta. But from Stockbridge to Roswell to Dacula, citizens gathered to honor military members past and present.
Early Monday morning, flags at half-staff whipped in the wind at Smyrna’s 20th Century Veterans Memorial.
A few hundred people sat on hard, plastic chairs as former Army Capt. Joe Caley, from Augusta, talked about working with the Wounded Warrior Project.
“Though I don’t wear the uniform of the U.S. Army anymore, I still try to be a good example,” he said.
A 21-gun salute, wreaths placed in memory of Cobb residents who died in battle and a performance of “Hymn to the Fallen” by the Tara Winds Community Band highlighted the ceremony.
"I'm reminded [today] how lucky we are to produce these young men and women who wanted to sacrifice their lives for this great nation," said retired Maj. Gen. James Livingston, a native of Towns, Ga., and featured guest at the Smyrna service.
Afterward, Haywood Savage, who worked four active tours in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1965 to 1971, happily reunited with Buster Herren, a fellow military man and Savage’s buddy from their years at Smyrna’s Campbell High School. The two hadn’t seen each other since the week before Herren left to fight in the Vietnam War.
“Brother to brother, that’s what I think about today,” Savage said.
Back at the Marietta gathering, Cherryland Oby of Powder Springs, paused to remember her husband, Leonard L. Williams, a Vietnam veteran who died in 1985of post-war causes.
Oby, the chaplain for American Legion Unit 296, represented her post in the wreath-bearing ceremony and said Memorial Day prompts her own reflections.
“I think back to when I was young and when my kids were small and rejoice the moments as a community,” she said. “While I wish [my husband] was here to receive these honors, I’m so proud that veterans are being recognized more.”
During the 90-minute presentation, The Rev. Mark Barbour recognized survivors of Pearl Harbor, bestowing a medal of valor, and the 105th Georgia State Defense Force Band played a medley of service branch songs. A hearty sing-along and clapping accompanied all of the branches, but was particularly vocal for the Marines and the Army.
While the crowds assembled at both events spanned generations, a healthy number of young people could be spotted among those paying tribute.
In Marietta, Parker Lee, 14, of Kennesaw, proudly wore his JROTC Navy uniform and remarked that he is looking forward to a career in the military, like both of his grandfathers.
“They’re the reason we’re here,” he said.
Meanwhile, Matt Finger of Buckhead brought his 13-month-old son, Ethan, to the Smyrna gathering, with each wearing red shirts decorated with a handout USO sticker.
Finger said he was there to honor his country and also his father, a Marine for 30 years.
When asked when his father retired, Finger smiled.
“You don’t ever retire,” he said. “Once a Marine, always a Marine.”
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