Some metro Atlanta communities resume Memorial Day traditions this year

ATLANTA — For the first time in over a year, crowds gathered on the streets of Dacula on Memorial Day.

Channel 2′s Steve Gehlbach was at the annual Memorial Day Parade, which was canceled last year due to the pandemic.

People started lining the route on Dacula Road this morning more that two hours before the parade started.

More than 10,000 people attended the event, about the same size crowd as in 2019.

“It was really sad last year being at home and not able to come out here,” one attendee said.

It was another important reminder that things are returning to normal.

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The buzz of Blackhawk helicopters began the annual tradition to honor our fallen heroes.

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“It’ our first time and we heard there was going the be a big crowd here, so we’re real excited,” one paradegoer said.

Beyond the band, floats and crowds was a solemn reminder that the list of fallen heroes grows larger each year. Nearly 300 placards show all the service members from the state lost in the 20 years since 9/11.

Army veteran Mike Meeks makes it every year to remember his dad, a World War II vet who was part of the 101st Airborne.

“He fought in the Battle of the Bulge and jumped into Normandy,” Meeks said. “It’s a special day.”

Tai Walker and his family came to see his son marching in the high school band.

“We’re fully vaccinated, but kind of excited to get back to some normalcy,” Walker said. “It’s really first time being back together as a community.”

This year’s Grad Marshal, Larry Loper, is a Marine Corps veteran who served in Vietnam. He stepped in at the last minute for a pair of 102-year-old twin World War II veterans who couldn’t participate because of health reasons.

Other metro Atlanta cities resumed their Memorial Day traditions this year.

The Hall County Sheriff’s Office performed a ceremony replicating the movements performed in Washington D.C. at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

DeKalb County brought back its annual in-person Memorial Day ceremony at Brook Run Park Veterans Memorial at 10 a.m. The event will also be streamed on the city’s Facebook page.

In Cherokee County, the city of Woodstock held their ceremony at 10 a.m. at the park in city center.

Smyrna hosted an in-person gathering at Veterans Memorial Lawn on King Street starting at 9:30 a.m. and Newnan held its ceremony at Veterans Park at 11 a.m.

Other Memorial Day celebrations remained online this year.

The Georgia National Cemetery in Canton will be virtual and the ceremony will be posted online. Gwinnett County is also hosting a virtual ceremony.

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