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Rock Creek veterans groups return to in-person ceremony for Memorial Day

By AccessWDUN staff
Posted 6:30PM on Sunday 30th May 2021 ( 3 years ago )

After the COVID pandemic sidelined the 2020 Memorial Day ceremony at Gainesville's Rock Creek Park, local veterans were glad to be back together this year to remember their fellow service members who died in battle.

More than 100 people gathered at the park on West Academy Street just off the Downtown Gainesville Square, a crowd that event organizer Johnny Hulsey declared "one of the largest ever."

Among the speakers at the Sunday afternoon event was John "Jack" Enkeman with the Korean War Veterans of Georgia. Enkeman told the crowd he served as part of Charlie Company of the 5th Regimental Combat Team, an assignment he described as "a tough, tough go."

"Memorial Day to us should be a stark and painful reminder of those men and women who were never afforded the opportunity to be honored as veterans for their service because they have made the supreme sacrifice," Enkeman said. "Whether they were volunteers or whether they were draftees, they represented the best that America had to offer."

He said he is often thanked for his service by members of the community who see him wearing his Korean veteran ballcap around town.

"I really appreciate it, but at the same time it reminds me of all of the friends that I had that did not come home with me from Korea," Enkean said.

Not only did the veterans groups pay tribute to those local service members - 168 total - who died in past battles, they also remembered fellow veterans who were active members of their groups - Rock Creek Vietnam Veterans, American Legion Post 7, American Legion Post 328 and Longstreet Veterans - who had died in 2019 and 2020. 

The Memorial Day ceremony has been held at Rock Creek Park since 2007, the year the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was installed at the park. 

Click on the top photo to see other photos from Sunday's event.

 

Veterans and family members of Hall County service members who died over the past two years remembered their friends and loved ones with roses laid at the monument for Hall County veterans from World War I and beyond. (Photo: B.J. Williams)
John 'Jack' Enkerman with the Korean War Veterans of Georgia spoke at Sunday's Memorial Day service at Rock Creek Veterans Park in Gainesville. (Photo: B.J. Williams)
Veteran Jeff Gore plays 'Taps' during Sunday's Memorial Day ceremony in Gainesville. (Photo: B.J. Williams)
Vietnam veteran Randy Evans (left) and an unidentified veteran bow in prayer at the onset of Sunday afternoon's Memorial Day ceremony at Gainesville's Rock Creek Park. (Photo: B.J. Williams)
Local veterans visit with one another at the conclusion of Sunday's in-person Memorial Day service at Rock Creek Park. The event was sidelined last year because of the COVID pandemic. (Photo: B.J. Williams)
U.S. Coast Guard veteran Ron Brechter (left) speaks with U.S. Army veteran Johnny Hulsey at Rock Creek Veterans Park in Gainesville. (Photo: B.J. Williams)
Attendees at Sunday's Memorial Day service at Rock Creek Veterans Park pause for prayer. (Photo: B.J. Williams)
Korean War veterans place a memorial wreath at the Korean War Memorial at Rock Creek Veterans Park in Gainesville. (Photo: B.J. Williams)

http://accesswdun.com/article/2021/5/1009454/rock-creek-veterans-group-returns-to-in-person-ceremony-for-memorial-day

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