Remembering our Veterans
Christina Garrett just finished up her second year with a project to bring students and veterans together locally in what she hopes will provide a long-lasting reminder for young and old alike the price Americans pay for freedom on a daily basis.
Her purpose was twofold, Garrett said. She wanted first and foremost to teach her children to be mindful of veterans and as a way to remember their father who was a veteran.
"I also wanted to teach the children of Van Wert Elementary the meaning of Veteran's day, to honor our veterans and maybe carry out the legacy after I'm gone," Garrett said.
The project drew statewide attention after being featured on Atlanta's 11Alive and Fox 5, and has garnered national support from veterans across the country.
Garrett got the project started in 2015 and put more than 7,000 flags in front of Van Wert Elementary, and nearly doubled the number this year with more than 10,000 stuck into the ground.
"Last year I setup a Gofund.me page to raise some money to purchase the flags, and I got 7,500," she said. "I was able to salvage
more than 6,000, so I did some fundraisers this year and I ordered them online."
She said the response from students has been "overwhelming."
"I'm speechless because I never thought this little project would bring so much," she said. "We've gotten letters and e-mails from across the state. I'm humbled."
Garrett said that "I hope that my students will see that giving and recognizing others is sometimes more important than ourselves. The more that we give and do for others will come back to us."
Van Wert wasn't the only groups holding Veteran's Day celebrations in Polk County. Students at Northside Elementary in Cedartown held their own celebrations of local veterans, and the City of Cedartown held their annual gathering on Friday morning as well.
Veteran's Day used to be Armistice day, which celebrated the official end to World War I on Nov. 11, 1918.