The Best Things to Do in Henry County, GA This Memorial Day
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Central Georgia's Henry County is best known as the home of Atlanta Motor Speedway, which hosts two NASCAR race weekends every year. However, there's much more to this county just south of the Atlanta International Airport than fast cars!
Memorial Day and Veterans Day are both important occasions in Henry County, so if you're interested in recognizing living veterans and those who have passed on, a visit to Henry County belongs on your bucket list. Here are some things to do in Henry County to help you plan your trip.
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There are more than a dozen military bases in Georgia, and many veterans have chosen Henry County to retire, settling into towns like McDonough, Hampton, Stockbridge, and Locust Grove. This concentration of retired veterans engenders sincere respect for and interest in military history, and the county residents go out of their way to recognize the service of their neighbors through memorials, museums, and even a squadron of Vietnam-era helicopters that are still in service.
Heritage Park in McDonough encompasses 129 acres dedicated to recognizing the brave Americans who served in the military. The park features a paved walking track, softball fields and playgrounds, pavilions, and gardens. Most importantly, Heritage Park is the site of two significant military memorials — the Veterans Wall of Honor and the Heritage Park Veterans Museum.
A walkway approaching the Wall of Honor is lined with flags and benches to offer spaces for quiet contemplation. The Wall is unique in the country as the only memorial associated with Gold Star Families (representing the families of fallen soldiers) not located within a military base. Family members must request inclusion on the wall; many submit portraits of the departed to include in the display. Most honorees are Georgia veterans. Two Central Georgia recipients of the Medal of Honor are also recognized in Heritage Park.
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A large red barn on the park grounds is home to the entirely volunteer-run Heritage Park Veterans Museum. Henry County owns the building and pays the utility bills, but the museum is operated by volunteers, mostly veterans, under the leadership of former tank instructor Jim Joyce.
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Starting in 2010 with just a handful of artifacts, the museum now curates over 20,000 items. Almost every piece in the collection was donated by a veteran or a family member who wants to keep the memory of their military service alive and share it with the public.
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More than just a collection of displays to walk past while reading informational plaques, the Heritage Veterans Park Museum tells the real stories of those who wore the uniforms, wielded the weapons, drove the ambulances, or worked in the munitions factories. Veterans offer free tours of the collection, and you'd better let them know in advance how much time you'd like to spend, because they can tell fascinating stories all day. The staff have free rein to individualize their own tours and share personal experiences while maintaining the reverence appropriate in a memorial setting.
The collection includes dozens of mannequins wearing donated uniforms representing members of different military branches and the stories of the people who wore them.
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Dioramas and models offer the opportunity to actually experience the day-to-day life of military members during war and peacetime.
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Donated weapons on display range from handguns and bayonets to large-scale ammunition.
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Vehicles in the museum include military transports, ambulances, and one of only three gyroscope prototypes produced with the intent of dropping them to downed helicopter pilots in Vietnam so they could fly themselves out of trouble. Unfortunately, the gyros required at least 60 feet of unobstructed flat land to take off, which was too difficult to find in the jungles of the military theater.
When the museum arrived to pick up the gyrocopter from its previous owners, it was running on the tarmac, and the donors asked if anyone wanted to fly it home. Considering it basically looks like an office chair strapped to a motor and a propeller, the museum intelligently decided to bring it back to McDonough on a trailer.
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It's a short trip south from McDonough to Locust Grove in Henry County, where you can visit another military memorial. Dedicated on Memorial Day in 2024, the Locust Grove Veterans Memorial recognizes the bravery and sacrifices of members of every military branch.
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A decommissioned World War II-era M1A1 anti-aircraft cannon stands guard over the City Hall grounds in Locust Grove, and large plaques honor the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Space Force. Donors have sponsored bricks in the walkway leading to the plaques to recognize the service of loved ones.
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For an even more active historical experience, head to Henry County Airport next to the Atlanta Motor Speedway. One of the hangars at the airport houses the headquarters of the Army Aviation Heritage Foundation and Flying Museum. A volunteer crew of pilots and mechanics maintains a fleet of three Vietnam War-era Bell UH-1H Huey helicopters and three Bell AH-1 Cobra helicopters. Volunteers offer hangar tours on Tuesdays through Saturdays, where you can learn the stories of these birds' experience in combat from veterans who piloted and rode in them.
The Hueys served as transport vehicles, dropping soldiers into combat and rescuing the wounded as air ambulances. The Cobra was an attack helicopter, only three feet wide and armed to the teeth with rockets and machine guns. These days, the helicopters travel around the country, appearing at air shows, making flyovers at veterans' funerals, and offering the opportunity for veterans to share their own stories, some of which their own families have never heard before.
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To help raise funds to keep the choppers flying, the AAHF offers 'Ride Saturdays' where civilians can actually experience what it was like to travel inside the helicopters and feel the power of the engines as they take passengers through the same sorts of maneuvers that the aircraft would make in actual combat situations.
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The Hueys can hold up to 10 passengers, and larger groups can schedule private flights in advance. The time aloft is only about 15 minutes per flight, but it feels a lot longer thanks to the exhilarating sensation of flying in an open cabin with the wind whipping through open doors. If you sit in the side doors, your toes actually stick over the edge of the railing, but don't worry, they'll strap you in safely before takeoff.
Once back on solid ground, passengers can ask questions of past soldiers and pilots who actually went into combat in these powerful choppers. But most importantly, they'll go home with a better understanding of the sacrifices these brave military veterans made to protect our country.
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