ATLANTA — An Atlanta-based veterans organization’s fight to get recognition for a group of Atlanta soldiers is moving forward after 10 years of effort.
The Sons of Atlanta, a group working to get recognition for soldiers from Atlanta who died while serving in the Vietnam War, has fought for years to get a monument at Piedmont Park to commemorate those lost overseas in the conflict.
Eldson McGhee, of the Sons of Atlanta, started the effort to get the monument placed in the park in 201 to honor 240 soldiers from the metro area who died in Vietnam.
McGhee told Channel 2′s Lori Wilson that many of those fallen soldiers were teenagers. He said one of his best friends was lost in the war, which is part of his motivation to have the fallen soldiers honored.
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“Most of these guys was killed before they turned 21,” McGhee told Channel 2 Action News. “In World War II, you had to be 25 to be drafted to fight, but during Vietnam, they were drafting 17, 18, 19-year-olds.”
Another veteran and member of the Sons of Atlanta, Tony Merritt, shares McGhee’s passion for the monument project. He said he won’t stop pushing until the monument is in place.
“I served, but I didn’t pay the ultimate price. Here is our chance to honor those who paid the ultimate price,” Merrit said.
The organization’s years of effort have not gone to waste. Recently, McGhee and Merritt met with Atlanta City Councilmember Michael Julian Bond, who helped them get city council support for the monument.
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Bond said Atlanta is the only major city in the United States that does not have a monument for its fallen Vietnam heroes. He helped secure funding or the monument, which will be built at the 14th Street entrance to Piedmont Park.
He said this type of memorial to the fallen is long overdue.
“It’s prime time and a prime location so that the public can view it and honor these individuals who gave so much to so many of us,” Bond said. “And for these veterans now, a new victory in what’s been a yearslong battle to honor the comrades they call their brothers, in their hometown, on a holiday the country has set aside to celebrate freedom and sacrifice.”
McGhee said “it’s good to be with family and friends and do the picnic,” but urged Americans to “think about the sacrifices they made for this country.”
Bond told Channel 2 Action News that he hopes to break ground for the monument in November.
The Sons of Atlanta is taking donations to have a loved one’s name put on a brick as part of the monument’s foundation, with the money raised to be used to put resources about military service and benefits in community centers and libraries.
To support the Sons of Atlanta Vietnam War Memorial Commemorative Brick Campaign and submit a name of a veteran to be honored with the monument, head online here.
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