ATLANTA — It was one of the darkest days in Atlanta's history, but if it hadn't been for one man, it could have been much worse.
Security guard Richard Jewell should have been known as the hero of the Centennial Olympic Park bombing. Instead, his life was turned upside down amid speculation that he was the real bomber.
[READ: Convicted Olympic Park bomber to pen autobiography]
Clint Eastwood has been filming a movie about the bombing at the park over the past couple of weeks. The movie revolves around the story of a man an Atlanta attorney now wants to see honored.
"People still remember him as the guy they thought did the bombing," Nadeen Green said.
Before the bomb went off in July 1996, Jewell, working as a security guard, helped save countless lives after noticing a suspicious backpack.
[READ: Original developer picked for redesign of Centennial Park]
"He saw that and made the connection and started to tell people 'get away, get back,'" Green told Channel 2's Justin Wilfon.
But in the days that followed, Jewell himself became the prime suspect.
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"It was a rush to judgment. And even though all that got corrected ultimately, he's never been honored for the heroism he showed," Green said.
Now, many years after authorities cleared him, and 12 years after he died at the age of 44, the retired Atlanta attorney told Wilfon that she wants a plaque or marker remembering Jewell placed at the site of the bombing.
[READ: Atlanta celebrates 25th anniversary of Olympic bid]
"It's about Atlanta and it's about Atlanta doing the right thing," Green said.
She's pushing the Georgia World Congress Center, which operates the park, to install the memorial.
The GWCC sent Wilfon a statement Friday, saying:
"We receive many requests to place tributes, memorials and dedications within the Park. As such, the Board of Governors adopted a park preservation policy which provides direction on maintaining current park elements, including a memorial of the tragic bombing incident but not Mr. Jewell himself."
[READ: James M. Cox Foundation contributes $2 million to Centennial Olympic Park]
Green said she'll keep fighting to make sure the bombing's hero is remembered, too.
"I like to think that this story will have a happy ending," Green said.
Green told Wilfon that she has no personal connection to Jewell but was a volunteer during the
Olympics and feels very strongly that this is the right thing to do.
Cox Media Group
