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MCDONOUGH, Ga –The last Saturday of September 2013 was a perfect
sunny day to enjoy some time out in a park. Nearly 20 different
families gathered at Heritage Park in McDonough, not necessarily to
enjoy the day, but to be honored and to remember their loved ones.
The families were all Gold Star families from Georgia taking
part of a remembrance ceremony known as Gold Star Family Day, and to
add a framed photo of their lost service member on the Wall of Honor
inside the Heritage Park Veterans Museum. This is the third annual
event, and this year there were 17 new portraits added to the wall.
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Portraits of Georgia service members who have fallen hang on
the Wall of Honor at the Heritage Park Veterans Museum in McDonough,
Ga. The empty slots were filled with new portraits during a Gold
Star Family Day ceremony, Sept. 28, 2013. (U.S. Army photo by Capt.
Charles An)
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The tradition of the Gold Star family originated from
when each family would receive a service flag or service
banner with a blue star representing a service member in
their family during a period of war. If the service member
died during that period of war the service member would then
be represented with a gold star instead.
The Fort
Gordon Army Survivor Outreach Services Program put the event
together with the help of the volunteers at the Heritage
Park Veterans Museum, soldiers from the Fort Gordon
Installation Support Detachment, Strong Rock Christian
School Chorus, and soldiers from the 3rd Medical Command
Deployment Support.
The event started with a ceremony
at the Heritage Park Veterans Wall of Honor, where the Fort
Gordon Installation Support Detachment provided the Color
Guard.
Soldiers of the 3rd Medical Command Deployment
Support from Gillem Enclave, Ga., escorted the Gold Star
families as they arrived.
For Sgt. 1st Class Karmen
Walker, a soldier from 3rd Medical Command, said she
volunteered because, “It was not only to support the
families of the fallen, but to know the family members as
well.”
Warrant Officer Richard Eswine, also from the
3rd Medical Command, echoed similar reasons why he
volunteered at the event.
“It is the family members
who stand behind us and support us that really make the
military services work,” says Eswine. “This is an
opportunity to come out and pay respects to the families,
and let them know we appreciate them for all that they do.”
Judge James Chafin III, a retired Air Force colonel,
was the key speaker giving remarks on the service and
sacrifices made by the families.
Chafin called on
everyone to remember that the sacrifices made by service
members still continued by giving the example of Spc. James
T. Wickliffchacin, 22, who died Sept. 20 at Brooke Army
Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas.
Wickliffchacin
died of injuries sustained from an improvised explosive
device in Afghanistan.
The Strong Rock Christian
School Chorus provided singing, and was followed by Randy
Rawlings playing taps, which brought a somber remembrance of
event.
The second part of the ceremony proceeded at
the Heritage Park Veterans Museum where the Wall of Honor is
located.
At the Wall of Honor, the Gold Star families
presented a portrait of their lost service member to the
color guard, and the color guard placed the photo on the
wall followed by a salute.
“I feel honored because
these were soldiers, military personnel who have come before
me, who have given their lives for me to be here,” said Pfc.
Tasia Pickett, a member of the color guard.
Staff
Sgt. Michael Artis, also a member of the color guard, said
with his “small part” he really did not do enough compared
to what the families sacrificed.
For the only
employee of Henry County that works at the museum, James
Joyce, a retired Army Command sergeant major, he is proud to
work with the eight volunteers of the museum.
Joyce
was even more impressed by how everyone had the desire to
volunteer for the ceremony, particularly by Capt. Dawn
Gordon, the company commander of Headquarters and
Headquarters Company, 3rd Medical Command.
Gordon
figured it was important enough that the commander should be
the first to volunteer, so she and some of her soldiers took
up family escort duties.
The people who gave the most
to the ceremony were the Gold Star families.
Terry
Whittington came with his family, including his 4 year-old
grandson Charlie Whittington, to remember his son 1st Lt.
Charles Whittington, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne
Division (Air Assault).
Charles and Charlie never got
to meet each other. Charles died before Charlie was born.
“I want to express my appreciation. Their participation
serves in a bigger tradition, as part of a bigger family,”
says Whittington, speaking of all those who took part of the
ceremony to honor Charles.
With volunteered work, a
lot of heart, unimaginable sacrifice, and many tears, the
Gold Star Family Day of 2013 at Heritage Park was a success.
But the greatest success was that the fallen service members
were honored and remembered before their families.
More photos available in frame below
By U.S. Army Capt. Charles An
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2013
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