For Mike and Karen McSweeney, attending a Memorial Day ceremony this year was especially meaningful.
Karen McSweeney lost a brother-in law who was serving in the military 30 years ago, on May 30, 1992. Mike McSweeney, a retired Marine Corps colonel, said commemorating the holiday is “for us… a personal remembrance.”
The couple was among hundreds in attendance at the Memorial Day ceremony at Marietta National Cemetery on Monday, one of a number of ceremonies held around metro Atlanta.
A huge crowd turned out for Dacula’s annual parade.
“It’s such a meaningful experience to walk the parade route and see the thousands of people who stand, applaud, salute, cry and wave as we make our way by,” said Nedra Rowe, who participates each year by carrying a sign in memory of a fallen soldier. “Representing a soldier who gave their life for my freedom is the least I can do on this day this day that we aptly call Memorial Day. May we never forget the sacrifices that were made for our freedom.”
A Dacula native, Rowe has been heartened to see how the event has grown over the years.
“This event makes me proud of my hometown,” she said.
At the Marietta National Cemetery, an American flag decorated each of the 18,000 gravestones this weekend, placed by Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts on Saturday morning.
Allen Koronkowski, president of the National Memorial Day Association of Georgia, was eager to bring back the event at the Marietta cemetery, the pandemic having forced large gatherings to pause. “Two years of disappointment was hard,” he said.
The event’s keynote speaker was Donna Rowe, a former head nurse with the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during the Vietnam War. “Memorial Day means more to me than a barbecue,” she said.
“I have touched the black body bags of death, of war,” Rowe said. She added that she has lost people close to her, including her husband, to the effects of Agent Orange. “We all gave that sacrifice because of the love of our country.”
Lisa Cappetto, who attended the ceremony as a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, called the holiday “a day to remember. If you take the time to do that, and then enjoy your family afterwards, it just means more.”
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