Memorial Day 2023 kicks off on Sunday with Rockmart Post 12 service

Polk County kicked off Memorial Day 2023 with a ceremony on Sunday afternoon in Rockmart as Post 12 honored those who have served and fallen in service of a grateful nation.

The annual holiday weekend saw Air Force vet, farmer, former Commission candidate and much more take the podium in front of the Veterans Memorial at Seaborn Jones Park.

He kept his message short but asked that those assembled take his words to heart and keep them in mind in the time to come. His main point: Memorial Day isn’t about holiday sales or barbecues.

“Freedom is not free. Since the beginning of our great nation, men and women have answered the call to fight for our freedom. Over 1 million Americans have died in war so that we will remain a free nation,” he said. “Let us not forget our service members are still in harms way… all across the world.”

He also asked Polk County to honor veterans, but also help those who are going through the trauma caused by their service in war to get through the pain and hardship caused by their deployment.

“Tell them that you love them and tell them that you will always be there for them,” he said.

WATCH: Subscriber video of the full service

Post 12 Commander Robert Furr also shared a list of vets who passed away since the 2022 ceremony.

Bill Waters, Doyle Adams, Tony Clark, Harold Tanner, Tom Huffaker, William Burell, Billy Morris, George Danforth, Nolan Dabbs, Bob Lewis, Wilburn Holland, Charles Phillips , Jerry Johnson, Gerald Lee, Charles Grimes, Mike Johnston, Charles Zebeau, John Leggett, Jerry Allen, Thomas King, Larry Cole, Gordon Wheeler and Charles Brinkley were among those named and remembered by Furr during the remembrance before the 21-gun salute and playing of Taps by the American Legion Honor Guard.

GALLERY: American Legion Post 12 Memorial Day celebration in Rockmart

The final Monday in May is set aside annually to remember those who have sacrificed all for their nation in the Armed Forces, first celebrated in 1868 to honor the union dead in the aftermath of the Civil War.

Cedartown’s Memorial Day service begins at 11 a.m. on Monday, May 29, 2023. The American Legion Post 86 is organizing the event at the Veterans Memorial next to the Cedartown Public Library on East Avenue.