Pat Donahue/Times-EnterpriseMembers of the Thomasville High School Air Force JROTC place flags on veterans' graves at Sunset Memorial Gardens.

THOMASVILLE — Veterans organizations leaders asked to remember those who died in service to the country and their families and also to remember and care for the veterans who came home from those conflicts.

The annual community Memorial Day observance was held Monday morning at Sunset Memorial Gardens, paying tribute to the servicemen and women who died in action, their families and those who returned from combat. 

More than 1.1 million Americans have died in service to the country, Dennis McGill of the Disabled American Veterans Chapter 59pointed out. 

‘That is more than the population of San Francisco, Seattle, Boston and Washington, D.C.,” he said. “In fact, more people were killed in World War II than live currently in the city of New Orleans. And this doesn’t even begin to take into account those who were wounded or missing in action.”

That number, McGill said, is close to 2.8 million, slightly more than the population of Chicago.

“The numbers should truly humble us,” he said. “They represent people, individuals, our brothers, our husbands, our mothers, our sisters, our friends. These people were woven into the fabric of our community all across this great nation. They were loved. They were mourned. And they still are.”

McGill also paid tribute to Gold Star families, families who have had a loved one killed in action.

“There are many others we have to remember in our hearts,” McGill said. “i ask you to get to know these families as people because they made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. 

“Our way of life has been shaped and made by those who have served, those we have lost and those who continue to serve,” he continued. “We’re able to be here today largely thanks to those who are not with us.”

McGill also urged taking care of the veterans who have come. Many are injured or are ill and approximately 20 service members commit suicide each day nationally. 

“Even those who come back home are wounded in mind and spirit,” he said. “Post traumatic stress (disorder) is no joke, ladies and gentlemen. It is very real in the lives of many of our service members coming back.”

Greg Thweatt of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4995 said Memorial Day isn’t about mourning.

“Be thankful that such brave men and women lived,” he said, “and to pay tribute to those heroic patriots who fought for something greater than themselves, fighting for a home to which they never returned. It is up to you and me to carry their memory forward in an effort to pay a debt that could never truly be repaid.”

Thweatt also said that to honor those who died, Americans should live the ideals for which they died.

“Live the America they died for — a country of freedom, equality, opportunity and unlimited promise. Live filled with hope that what they gave us lasts forever.”

Thweatt also said those at the ceremony must show that Memorial Day is not just another holiday.

“We must ensure the youth of tomorrow understand the true cost of freedom,” Thweatt said.

Editor Pat Donahue can be reached at (229) 226-2400 ext. 1806.