Volunteers turn out in rain to honor fallen soldiers at Cherokee County cemetery

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]While this rain that we're dealing with did not stop volunteers from marking this Memorial Day holiday today and the meaning behind it. Atlanta News First reporter Mary Kate Hamilton reports from the Georgia National Cemetery.

[00:00:16]>> The barbecues are great, but this is a day of remembrance.

[00:00:18]>> On this gloomy Memorial Day weekend, volunteers honored the true meaning of the holiday at Georgia National Cemetery.

[00:00:25]>> Especially on a rainy day, it just makes your heart really warm. Volunteers and civilians placed tokens on fallen service members' graves. Pausing for a moment of reflection and gratitude for those who served and made the ultimate sacrifice.

[00:00:39]>> It's important to understand our our heritage and our roots and the sacrifice um that have been made generation by generation to give us the opportunity to go have that picnic or go have that barbecue. The Travis Manion Foundation hosts the honor project each Memorial Day at cemeteries across the country.

[00:00:58]For Jave Frasier, whose brother died in the line of duty, the day's simple acts of remembrance carry extra weight.

[00:01:05]>> As a Gold Star sister, I've experienced the other side of it. And I see the impact that we as individuals can make in honor of our fallen. And so we invite the community like inspired civilians um other veterans to come out and honor their brothers and sisters as well.

[00:01:22]>> And while Memorial Day is first and foremost about honoring the fallen, volunteers say celebrating together can be part of that, too.

[00:01:30]>> I can tell you to the person that that made that sacrifice. There's nothing more than they would want for their families to get together, have that barbecue, have that good time, and and keep keep doing what what we do as Americans. Reporting from Georgia National Cemetery, Mary Kate Hamilton, Atlanta News