‘We lost so many friends’: Emotions run high during Memorial Day ceremony

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Many of the people attending the several Memorial Day ceremonies couldn’t help but get emotional.

We spoke with a man at the all-wars monument who said once he heard the music play, he wept.

Murals tell a story of those who bleed red, white, and blue, backing the statement that ‘freedom is never free’ and on days like Memorial Day, they are taken back to the uniform

“Takes me back to 1966, ‘67. In Vietnam, we lost so many friends,” said Marine Veteran Marion Gibson.

The sounds bring him back to one word, seven letters, and three colors.

“Freedom is indescribable. It’s something that you earn. It’s not given to you and somebody that had to pay a price for it,” he said.

He shows up for the friends and brothers that didn’t return home with him.

“To lose someone, unexpectedly, especially in combat, and you never really forget it. It lingers on each and every day of your life,” said Gibson.

Never forgetting what he and so many others went through.

“The pain and suffering that they go through, some of them still go to our disabled veterans’ organization. They deserve a lot more recognition,” he said.

And when we look at the American flag … we remember.

General Paul Stanton is the commanding general of the Cyber Center of Excellence in Fort Gordon.

“It is a symbol amongst others but, it does symbolize what it means to live our life through the freedoms that have been granted to us,” said Stanton.

Some of us are living out those freedoms right now.

Whether you’re at the lake, cookout, or hanging out with friends and family, Memorial Day serves as a reminder that none of it would be possible without the heroes who gave their lives so we could freely be where we are.

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