“Our freedom came at a tremendous cost...that cost is life.” Bill Stodghill, commander of the North Georgia Honor Guard and master of ceremonies, opened the Memorial Day service Monday, May 30, with those words.
A blistering noonday sun beat down on veterans, their family members, friends and those gathered at Veterans Memorial Park to remember and pay respects to those who gave the supreme sacrifice – their lives – for the freedoms enjoyed in this country.
The Rev. Dr. Tom Jordan, a veteran himself, was the featured speaker at the annual event. He told the crowd Memorial Day is “about the men and women who cannot be here with us.”
Jordan told the history of the day’s observance, which began as Decoration Day. On the first Decoration Day, which was held after the end of the Civil War, 5,000 participants decorated the graves of the 20,000 troops buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. Today, over 1.1 million Americans are honored who have given the supreme sacrifice for their country.
“We owe them remembrance, honor, respect and love. Without their sacrifice, we would not be free,” Jordan said.
Jordan concluded with the words to Lee Greenwood’s “I’m Proud to be an American.”
Stodghill reminded the crowd to remember the cost of freedom not just on Memorial Day, but every day.