Jerry Gibson was crawling on his belly through the jungles of Vietnam in 1969 when he got the news — he was going home. Three days later, he was standing on his brother”s front porch in Columbus, trying to figure out how to pick up life where he had left it.
The tour had taken its toll on the 25-year-old. He was 6 feet tall and weighed 120 pounds fully dressed, soaked in sweat. He had lost comrades. He had lost friends.
A day to remember
Saturday morning, Gibson walked through Friendship Cemetery with a fistful of American flags in his left hand as he and other members of American Legion Post 69 paid tribute to the nearly 700 veterans who are buried at the location, which many consider to be the home of the nation”s first Memorial Day in 1866.
As Gibson walked between the narrow rows of headstones, he remembered people like Col. Henry Edward “Pete” Warden, who passed away in November 2007 at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle and is often called the “Father of the B-52.”
At Warden”s funeral, Gibson said, a pilot flew a B-52 bomber all the way from Louisiana, nearly scraping the tops of the cemetery trees as he soared over the funeral procession, adding a hair-raising note to the somber occasion.
Saturday morning”s tribute was considerably quieter unless you counted the chatter of young voices drifting across the spring air. The annual flag placing has become a family affair, with members of the American Legion, Sons of the American Legion, Ladies” Auxiliary, Junior Girls, and Disabled American Veterans participating.
Jim Lawrence brought his wife, two sons, and four grandchildren. Judith Moore came with her husband, John Moore, who served in the Army.
As she placed a flag beside each veteran”s headstone, she bowed her head, read the name aloud, and whispered “thank you.” Her father served in the Air Force. Her brother served in the Army. Her nephews are currently stationed in Germany and Afghanistan. Even as she remembers the dead, she worries about the living.
Moore said she believes now, more than ever, people are acutely aware of the meaning behind Memorial Day. The news is filled with war. The news is filled with stories of soldiers who did not come home.
A day to give thanks
“I”m saying thank you today, because that”s what it”s all about,” Moore said. “We”re not just putting flags out to look pretty. I have great faith in God, and I thank all our servicemen for serving overseas and doing what they feel their country wants and needs them to do.”
Tommy Patterson, who served 18 months in Vietnam, agreed.
“Veteran”s Day is for the living,” he said as he removed faded flags and replaced them with crisp new ones. “Memorial Day is for the dead.”
By the time dusk fell on Saturday, the group had placed nearly 1,500 flags on graves, not only at Friendship Cemetery but at cemeteries throughout Lowndes County. It is a time-honored ritual they perform every year on both Memorial Day and Veterans Day.
Gibson said he hoped area veterans who are not already part of the American Legion will consider joining. The local post currently has around 500 members, but he said that number should be more than 1,000.
Young soldiers these days are busy raising families, he said, and they don”t always realize that the American Legion isn”t just for their fathers and grandfathers — it”s for them as well.
“They”re the future,” Gibson said. “Our whole purpose is to take care of veterans, and we need the younger ones.”
This afternoon, at 1 p.m., American Legion Post 69 will hold a Memorial Day luncheon at the headquarters on Chubby Drive off Highway 45 N. Catfish and Boston butt will be served.
Gibson said they expect to feed more than 300 people, and all veterans — even those who are not currently members of the American Legion — are invited to attend.
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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