The voices of the fallen
A Memorial Day remembrance at Veterans Plaza imparts the importance of recalling the sacrifices of those who served.
Several years ago, while traveling abroad with the national commander of the American Legion, Dewey Moss walked the tranquil grounds of American military cemeteries in Europe where soldiers of the world wars are buried and memorialized.
“It was so peaceful and serene,” said Moss, the commander of the American Legion Department of Georgia’s Seventh District, based in Dalton. “It’s almost like you can still hear the voices of those interred.”
Like the cemeteries of Europe, Moss told the crowd at Veterans Plaza on Saturday afternoon for a Memorial Day remembrance ceremony, the voices of the fallen could also be heard carrying over the green expanse of Myrtle Hill.
Moss was the keynote speaker at the ceremony, to honor the “uncommon bravery” of the men and woman who died in service of their country. He offered vignettes of the lives led by just a few of those commemorated on Memorial Day. He drew attention to the sacrifices of men and women who did not die on the battlefield.
Sharon Lane was one those individuals. She joined the U.S. Army Nurse Corps in April 1968, working stateside for a year until being sent to Vietnam. She was assigned to an evacuation hospital, tending to both injured American soldiers as well as Vietnamese.
Just months after her arrival in Vietnam, a 122mm rocket struck her medical ward and killed her. She was the only American military nurse killed by enemy fire in the war and was awarded the Purple Heart.
Moss also spoke of the Marines who died in a helicopter crash during a routine training mission in California in early April.
During his trip, Moss also observed lab technicians completing forensic work on missing soldiers in the hope of sending them home. And also on Memorial Day, those prisoners of war and the ones missing in action must also be remembered, he said.
But just as important as the observance of the service members lost, is keeping in mind the families left behind, those Gold Star families.
“They can still hear the voices of those they’ve lost,” Moss said.
There will be two events Monday to recognize the day of remembrance.
The Coosa Valley Fairgrounds will be open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. with military displays open for viewing. At 11 a.m., a program hosted by the Rome Exchange Club will be held in The Palladium.
Then, for the 72nd year in Shannon a program will commemorate the 12 employees of the old Brighton Mill who died in World War II. The program starts at noon and will be held at the flagpole outside the mill office building off Burlington Drive.
“God bless our fallen heroes,” Moss concluded, leading the ceremony into the playing of “Amazing Grace” by bagpiper Joe Dunaway and Air Force veteran Bill King closing the ceremony with his bugle sounding taps.