Memorial Day 2022

Memorial Day has officially been recognized as a national day of remembrance since 1971. Prior to then, many referred to it as Decoration Day when the graves of the fallen were decorated with flags and flowers and cleaned.

It is not a day to celebrate, but to honor the men and women who gave it all, America’s Fallen. Many of those rest in graves far from home, France and Italy have huge cemeteries containing the graves of American soldiers.

There are 10,684 American Goldstar casualties either Georgians or with close ties to the state.

One Jasper County family never received the body of their loved one, F.D. Funderburg. He was a pilot during World War II in the Tuskegee Airmen, primarily African-American. After training, his group, 301st Fighter Squadron, was sent to Italy. During the Normandy Invasion in June, 1944, his group shot down enemy planes. December 29th, 1944, he went missing in combat near Munich, Germany. He is memorialized on Tablets of the Missing in the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery near Rome, Italy.

Memorial Day is to remember those who died for our freedom. To lay down one’s life for others, that is the greatest love.