MACON, Ga. — If you see a veteran, this is the week to thank them for their service.
Ahead of Veteran’s day on Friday, the Cherry Blossom Festival honored Central Georgians who put their life on the line.
Dozens of veterans participated in the event, representing the Korean war, the Vietnam war, the Gulf war, and the Global War on Terror.
"Thank you for your service,” Dan W. Gatlyn said.
Gatlyn was the Grand Marshall of the Veterans Day parade.
"There's a lot of people in the Macon area that are far more qualified to sit here than I am,” he said.
Gatlyn is 92-years-old, and served twenty years in the U.S. Navy with tours in South China, the Korean war, and the Vietnam war.
"We were jostled all over from Hong Kong, to Singapore, to Malaysia,” he said.
Gatlyn says veterans are warriors of conflict and ambassadors of peace; reasons he says all veterans should be honored.
"A lot of people feel like we are just people who fight wars, and we're more than that,” Gatlyn said. “We have ideology, we have a constitutional base. We fight and we live for a cause."
Former Macon Mayor, Jack C. Ellis was in the parade this year.
"I'm a Vietnam veteran. I served twenty years in the U.S. Army,” he said.
Ellis says it's an honor and privilege to serve your country because not everyone gets to do it.
"I want people to remember that countless, millions of men and women who went wherever their country told them to go, on behalf of every single one of us, and we should never forget that,” Ellis said.
Lorraine Holmes served 39 years in the Army as a petroleum oil specialist, and was on the Global War on Terror float.
"I'm very excited! This is my first time being in a parade,” she said.
She says serving your county comes with a lot of sacrifice.
"They left loved ones and you're not able to get that back, so that's my honor arming my county,” Holmes said.
Veteran's Day is Friday, November 11.
So, for our veterans out there thank you for your service!
RELATED ARTICLES: