26-05-2025
‘I'm lucky to be here': People across metro Atlanta honor the fallen on this Memorial Day
People across North Georgia and the rest of the country paused on Monday to honor those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
This Memorial Day brought special meaning to the family of Benjamin Franklin Clure.
The World War II veteran died in 1960, but his grave went unmarked until now.
'There was nothing there. There was just bare ground,' said Stephanie Isaacs, manager of Sugar Hill Cemetery. 'When we find someone who hasn't been able to be celebrated like in 60 years, it's very special.'
Clure's surviving family members, who never knew his story, attended Monday's ceremony.
A marker with Clure's name now stands alongside nearly 150 other veterans honored in the Sugar Hill Historic Cemetery.
'The stories make it real. It brings it down to the people level and remember that there's people and family behind all these markers,' Navy veteran Eric Krause said.
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In Marietta, people gathered at the National Cemetery, where over 18,000 graves mark local Georgians who died for our country.
For Marine Veteran Steve Grillo and his son Vincent, the ceremony is a longstanding tradition that started with Vincent was just 8.
'It's emotional that we get to do this every year,' Vincent Grillo said.
'It's kind of tough to talk about, but you sit here and look at all these families, every one of these graves represents a family that didn't get somebody home,' Steve Grillo said. 'I'm lucky to be here for my son; other guys don't have their dad.'
Boy Scout troops had placed American flags all over the gravestones at the cemetery.
In Alpharetta, veterans laid a wreath at the memorial outside Alpharetta's City Hall.
The memorial was built 10 years ago to honor the fallen in that city. At Monday's ceremony, U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick served as the keynote speaker. McCormick is a Marine and former helicopter pilot.
'Knowing there's a high probability you'll die going into battle, but still volunteering. Not forced in, but volunteering for service on something so special. That's what makes it stand out to me. That's what I know my friends died for,' McCormick said.
This year, on the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, there was special recognition for those soldiers, including three from North Fulton who were killed in action.
Channel 2's Matt Johnson, Steve Gehlbach, and Michele Newell contributed to this story.
