Killed in action the week before, the body of Sergeant First Class John C. Beale was returned to Falcon Field in Peachtree City, Georgia, just south of Atlanta, on June 11, 2009. The Henry County Police Department escorted the procession to the funeral home in McDonough, Georgia.
A simple notice in local papers indicated the road route to be taken and the approximate time. Nowadays one can be led to believe that America no longer respects honor and no longer honors sacrifice outside the military. Be it known that there are many places in this land where people still recognize the courage and impact of total self-sacrifice. Georgia remains one of those graceful places. The link below is a short travelogue of that day’s remarkable and painful journey. If clicking on the link does not work, copy it to your web browser.
Say what you will about the Georgia Rednecks, they still remember that freedom is not free!
A nice tribute to the fallen.
A quote from Ronald Reagan seems appropriate:
It is, in a way, an odd thing to honor those who died in defense of our country, in defense of us, in wars far away. The imagination plays a trick. We see these soldiers in our mind as old and wise. We see them as something like the Founding Fathers, grave and gray haired. But most of them were boys when they died, and they gave up two lives–the one they were living and the one they would have lived. When they died, they gave up their chance to be husbands and fathers and grandfathers. They gave up their chance to be revered old men. They gave up everything for our country, for us. And all we can do is remember."
–Ronald Reagan
85 Patriot Guard Riders led the procession. Yeah, I counted them.
I was unable to be there myself but my wife an a many of her co-workers from JC Penneys in Fayetteville, Ga. were there to pay their respects to a fallen hero. God Bless America!