RICHMOND HILL, Ga. (WTOC) – Despite on and off rain showers, a large turnout gathered at the city\u2019s Memorial Day celebration Monday.<\/p>\n
The Richmond Hill Fire Department was packed with locals honoring the men and women who gave their lives serving the country.<\/p>\n
Speakers reminded the crowd that Memorial Day is about much more than a ceremony.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a time to reflect and honor those whose selfless service helped create the world we now live in,\u201d a speaker said.<\/p>\n
Local leaders emphasize sacrifice<\/p>\n
Visitors heard from leaders, including Richmond Hill Mayor Kristi Cox, who spoke about the importance of remembering those who sacrificed for the country.<\/p>\n
Donald Singleton, a Richmond Hill native who fought in the Vietnam War in the mid-1960s, also spoke at the event. He was 20 years old when he left home to serve.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just a kid right out of Richmond Hill, never been nowhere, never did nothing,\u201d said Singleton, now 82.<\/p>\n
Singleton served in the 101st Airborne Division and said Memorial Day gives him the opportunity to honor the soldiers who never made it home, including the fellow service member who saved his life overseas.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was in the war in Vietnam, I lost a lot of friends \u2014 a lot of friends. In fact, the guy who saved my life, who jumped on a grenade to save me, he died. So I don\u2019t ever want to forget about him,\u201d Singleton said.<\/p>\n
Post commander reflects on service<\/p>\n
Remembering those sacrifices is also personal for Sally Rejas, the Post Commander of American Legion Post 27 in Richmond Hill.<\/p>\n
She joined the Army at 17 years old and served for seven years.<\/p>\n
As the country approaches 250 years of freedom, she said it\u2019s important people remember those who protected it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was not free, it was a sacrifice of others,\u201d Rejas said.<\/p>\n
Rejas also said she appreciates those who continue to serve today.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I\u2019m told thank you for your service, I tell them they are worth it. The fact that I see others willing to sacrifice and join the service and continue dedicating their life for our protection and our security means the world to me,\u201d Rejas said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RICHMOND HILL, Ga. (WTOC) – Despite on and off rain showers, a large turnout gathered at the city\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":664925,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,290654,78861,290655,3,20739,290653,21,19,22,20,25,24,3511],"class_list":["post-664924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-fallen-service-members","tag-memorial-day","tag-memorial-day-ceremony","tag-news","tag-richmond-hill","tag-richmond-hill-fire-department","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-veterans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=664924"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664924\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/664925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=664924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=664924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=664924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}