On Tuesday, Nov. 11, our nation will formally recognize the service and sacrifice made by our military service men and women.
Here in White County, numerous Veterans Day ceremonies will be held at our local schools. Veterans groups and churches are also holding events.
The First Presbyterian Church in Cleveland will hold a Veterans Day celebration this Saturday, Nov. 8, at 11 a.m.
American Legion Roy Head Post 16 will hold their annual Veterans Day ceremony at 11 a.m. at Freedom Park, 66 East Kytle Street, in Cleveland.
The Northeast Georgia Veterans Society will hold its annual Veterans Day dinner at 6:30 on Nov. 11, at Nacoochee Methodist Church’s fellowship hall, 1371 Highway 17, in Sautee. Contact Tony McIntyre at 404-375-3260.
Some groups honored our vets ahead of Veterans Day. A Veterans Appreciation Luncheon held at Mt. Yonah Baptist in late October honored veterans who then applauded the presentation of scholarships to JROTC student cadets.
You will also find in this issue’s C section, the annual Salute to Veterans that the White County News publishes each year.
Many in our community, whether it is Veterans Day or not, thank our resident veterans and active duty military members when they greet them. White County values patriotism and it shows with the significant number of veterans who choose to live here, and with the respect our young people show veterans – like those involved in JROTC at White County High School, Scouting America and local church youth groups.
We have veterans who continue to serve our community as first responders, or are involved in our local veterans’ organizations or through area civic clubs. About 35 veterans that make up the White County Honor Guard officiate at veterans’ funerals and other military related observances across northeast Georgia.
The City of Cleveland and White County were also designated as a Purple Heart city and county in recent years. The Purple Heart medal is the oldest medal still presented to military service members who show great courage under fire and are killed or wounded in action.
Let us also credit the parents, siblings, spouses and children of military service members for keeping the home fires burning while their sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, wives and husbands, and moms and dads deployed to assignments far away. There’s no doubt that the family members of these veterans worried about their service member’s welfare during wartime. Whether they mailed handwritten letters overseas, made short, sporadic phone calls or sent carefully worded e-mails, keeping up the service member’s morale was important.
So on Veterans Day, let us thank those who served. And thank the heavens that they returned home to continue living lives of service.