Memorial Day Event: Honoring Fallen Heroes at Marietta National Cemetery

An annual Memorial Day commemoration event remembering fallen military and support personnel is scheduled at Marietta National Cemetery on Monday, May 27.

Memorial Day commemoration ceremonies will be held May 27 at the Marietta National Cemetery, beginning at noon.Photo byDeanLand / OurTravelCafe

The 79th annual Memorial Day event will begin at noon. The noon starting time is coordinated across the US at national cemeteries honoring the nation's fallen service personnel. In previous years, crowds from several hundred to several thousand people gathered at the cemetery to pay their respects on the holiday dedicated to remembering those individuals and families who gave all in service of their country.

The ceremony will include keynote speaker Colonel Carl "Skip" Bell, USA (Ret.) Col. Bell is a decorated war veteran who served multiple tours in Vietnam all the way through Operation Desert Shield. He was recently inducted into the Georgia Veterans' Hall of Fame.

Other speakers include JoAnn K. Birrell, Cobb County Commissioner, District 3.

Ceremonies will be organized at the hilltop rostrum, a Greek-revival style columned structure located at the highest point in the cemetery.

On Saturday, May 25, beginning at 8 am, area Boy Scout troops and other volunteers from throughout the community will place US flags at each headstone within the cemetery. There's no advance sign-up required for volunteers, who may participate by arriving at the cemetery by 8 am for an assignment.

Marietta National Cemetery is the burial site of more than 17,000 military personnel and family members. That includes over 3,000 unknown soldiers, Union casualties in the Civil War. The cemetery is closed to new interments, but subsequent interments for veterans or eligible family members in existing gravesites are still accepted.

Marietta National Cemetery is the final resting place of more than 17,000 service personnel and family members.Photo byDeanLand / OurTravelCafe.com

The Memorial Day event is sponsored by the National Memorial Day Association of Georgia and The Avenue of Flags, Inc, which was founded in1946, in Atlanta. The group is comprised of individual patron members and of member organizations who wish to remember and honor the men and women who have served in the United States of America Armed Forces, the many who have given their lives to protect our freedom, the many who are now deceased, and those currently serving in the Armed Forces.

Our Memorial Day Hero Series

Check out this series of articles to learn more about some of the heroes resting at Marietta National Cemetery:

Heroic Civil War Army Nurse Sacrificed Her Life for Wounded Soldiers

Famed Georgia Wrestler Trained WWII Spies in Deadly Arts

UGA's Hero Coach: From Football Field to Battle Field

Stories Behind the Monuments and Headstones at Marietta National Cemetery