Smyrna Honors Fallen Soldiers On Memorial Day

SMYRNA — Rain was not going to stop the annual Memorial Day ceremony in the Jonquil City on Monday, even if it had to move indoors.

Planned for the Smyrna Veterans Memorial, American Legion Post 160 instead hosted the ceremony in the Smyrna Community Center, where veterans, their families and residents gathered to pay tribute to the country’s fallen heroes.

Joel DeSaulniers, a Smyrna chiropractor and Air Force veteran, was the keynote speaker at the Smyrna event, noting Memorial Day is a solemn occasion.

DeSaulniers lost his brother, Robert, in the Vietnam War.

“There’s two things that we don’t do on Memorial Day. The first one is, we don’t tell people to have a ‘happy Memorial Day,’” DeSaulniers said. “It’s OK to enjoy yourself, but we have to remember, the purpose of Memorial Day is to honor the men and women that gave their lives protecting the flag.”

The second no-go on Memorial Day, DeSaulniers added, is allowing politics to get in the way of honoring those who died fighting for the U.S.

“We don’t disrespect statues that were erected to honor our fallen soldiers,” DeSaulniers said.

He also charted some of the history and traditions of Memorial Day, including that it was previously known as Decoration Day and first celebrated on May 30, 1868, and that flags are flown at half-staff from 9 a.m. to noon to honor fallen service members, and are then raised at noon to honor living veterans.

DeSaulniers complimented the audience for attending the ceremony, and he encouraged attendees to go a step beyond.

“Visit a cemetery, bring flowers,” DeSaulniers said. “It doesn’t matter whose grave you put those flowers on. All of them deserve them.”

Following DeSaulniers’ speech, the American Legion honored fallen service members with the POW/MIA Missing Man Table ceremony, which involves setting a table with different items for those members of the U.S. Armed Forces missing in action.

There was also a tribute to the landings at Normandy, France, also known as D-Day. June 6, 2024 marks the 80th anniversary of the largest seaborne invasion in history and a turning point at the end of World War II.

And just before the playing of the Armed Forces Medley, recognizing the march songs for the different branches of the military, veterans and members of the Campbell High School JROTC, responsible for the presentation of colors, participated in the wreath ceremony to remember Cobb Countians who died fighting for their country.

According to Scott Brandenburg, who narrated the wreath ceremony, the following are the numbers of Cobb residents who lost their lives in World War I and the wars that followed:

♦ World War I: 28 service members

♦ World War II: 114 service members

♦ Korean War: 12 service members

♦ Vietnam War: 76 service members

♦ Gulf War: 1 service member

♦ War on Terrorism: 32 service members and 3 civilian contractors

Former Smyrna Councilman Wade Lnenicka, the commander of American Legion Post 160, helped establish the ceremony about two decades ago, when he was still on the council.

His grandfather, Sgt. George Harrison, sustained serious injuries in France on July 15, 1918, while fighting in World War I.

He noted after the ceremony that Cobb has somewhere around 60,000 or 70,000 veterans, or nearly 10% of the county’s population.

“Nationally, veterans are only 1% or less, so the community has always been very supportive of the military, the armed forces, the veterans, and it’s an honor to a member of the American Legion and to be able to conduct this ceremony,” Lnenicka said.