Memorial Day observers mindful of past, current conflicts

ROSWELL - Georgians across the state packed parks, sang patriotic songs and remembered soldiers lost to war in the first Memorial Day holiday since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. <br> <br> Thousands of people turned out for the fifth annual ``Roswell Remembers,&#39;&#39; billed by organizers as the state&#39;s largest Memorial Day event. The estimated 7,000 to 9,000 people in attendance far exceeded previous crowds, event staff said. <br> <br> Guest speaker Gen. Paul Tibbetts, pilot of the plane that dropped the world&#39;s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, said Americans should remember the soldiers overseas fighting the war on terrorism and encourage them with e-mails and letters. <br> <br> ``Our future now rests in the hands of those people who are over in Afghanistan and that area,&#39;&#39; Tibbetts, 89, told the crowd. ``It&#39;s going to be a long, hard fight. A lot of them are going to get killed. We&#39;re fighting an enemy unlike any we&#39;ve ever fought before.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> A bagpipes and drums corps marched into the ceremony playing ``God Bless America,&#39;&#39; a plaintive reminder of the song that became the nation&#39;s anthem on the steps of the Capitol, at ballparks and around the country following the attacks. <br> <br> Still, many people said they would have attended to honor veterans in their families, particularly those of World War II, even if the attacks hadn&#39;t happened. <br> <br> ``I&#39;m a veteran, but probably more importantly to me, my father is a World War II veteran,&#39;&#39; said Terry Ledford, 56, of Roswell. ``And like all World War II vets, he&#39;s getting up there in age, and I just want to remember all of this.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> In Athens, actors portrayed military conflicts that no living person remembers battles dating all the way back to the Roman Empire. About 50 re-enactors depicted military techniques throughout history, from the Romans to the Norman Conquest knights and on up through the Civil War and the two world wars. <br> <br> As many as 800 attended the event, enjoying the Roman and World War II exhibitions the best, the event organizer said. <br> <br> ``People were really surprised that there were so many Romans doing re-enactments or (military) impressions, and World War II is just so popular anyway with current movies and recent movies,&#39;&#39; organizer Karl Enter said. ``But everybody was just bowled over by the Romans.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> A more traditional event took place in Savannah, where about 40 members of the American Legion Auxiliary rode four miles out to sea to drop an anchor made of 10,000 red poppies. The dropping of the poppy anchor dates back to 1919, when an Athens woman adopted the poppy as a tribute to fallen soldiers and dropped the first anchor off the Savannah coast, coordinator Brenda Kelly said. <br> <br> ``It&#39;s kind of hard to describe the feeling that you get when the anchor goes over the side,&#39;&#39; Kelly said. <br> <br> Robert Hall, a district governor for the Rotary clubs that sponsored the event in Roswell, said all veterans should be honored for their sacrifices. <br> <br> ``They cherished our nation, they cherished our freedom, they triumphed over fear, they triumphed over adversity, they triumphed over evil,&#39;&#39; he said. ``They gave their lives for us.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> At Fort Benning, more than 200 people gathered in the Main Post Cemetery to remember fallen soldiers, including 36 who have died since fighting in Afghanistan began, and to acknowledge those still in the fight. <br> <br> ``In past Memorial Days we reflected on those lost in past battles. Today our concerns are more immediate. We not only honor our fallen, but we steel ourselves for more casualties,&#39;&#39; said Col. Jose A. Torres, garrison commander at the U.S. Army Infantry Center. <br> <br> Thousands of people attended the traveling Vietnam Wall Experience show in Griffin. Volunteers said an estimated 15,000 including people from other states and countries were at closing ceremonies Sunday night, and thousands more visited on Monday. <br> <br> ``Many people have come to this location and to this wall to shed tears, to share memories and to bring closure to the losses they&#39;ve suffered during this war,&#39;&#39; said the Rev. Gene Turkett, manager of the McCullough Funeral Home, which helped sponsor the three-day event. ``It has been a time for reflection and remembering. It has been a time for honoring and healing.&#39;&#39;

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