TIFTON — Tifton residents pledged to both honor the fallen service members of their country and live in memory of their sacrifice this past Memorial Day.

In observance of the day of remembrance, city officials invited the community once more to join them for a ceremony at the Jack Stone Veteran’s Park Monday morning to pay their respect to the heroes who had given their lives in the line of duty.

“Today is not just a day on the calendar — this day is a sacred moment of reflection, a time to remember the men and women who gave their lives in defense of our values, our freedoms, and our way of life,” mayor Julie Smith said as she welcomed and thanked guests for their presence at the ceremony. “Their sacrifice has shaped the very fabric of our nation, and we’re here to honor their courage, their dedication, and their memory.”

She asked the attendees to honor the families and loved ones of those fallen men and women, who have born the weight of those losses all these years.

Tyron Spearman, serving as master of ceremony for the service, praised the efforts of American Legion Post 21, who had put out 4,500 flags on graves across 30 different cemeteries over the weekend. He encouraged guests to continue their work by taking up poppy flowers being offered during the event in honor of Memorial Day.

Spearman also recognized the veterans of the various divisions of the U.S. military, including the Army and Air National Guard, as well as their relatives and loved ones, to thank them for their service.

Afterwards, he turned the mic over to the guest speaker of the ceremony, state Rep. Angie O’Steen of District 169, who had been recommended by her predecessor Clay Pirkle, also present for the service.

O’Steen thanked local veteran Jack Stone for reaching out to Pirkle, who in turn recruited her for the ceremony, as she was happy to do whatever she could to support the veterans of the country, and asked those who had not served in the military or did not have family members who served to stand up from the crowd as a show of gratitude to them for being present.

Having felt compelled to research Tift County’s service members when asked to speak at the event, O’Steen shared the story of 2nd Lt. Harold Durham, a soldier in the Vietnam War who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his heroic acts of tending to his fellow soldiers and directing artillery fire while being exposed to hostile fire, even after being mortally wounded.

The tale reminded her of a Korean War soldier from her own county, Master Sgt. Luther Grace, who had recently been identified and buried in his hometown after being declared missing in action nearly 75 years ago. She asserted that both men had demonstrated unwavering commitment and true heroism during their service, and that they were certainly not alone among those who had given their lives for their country.

“The Tift County community, and all across the nation, is rich with the stories of countless men and women, like many of you present today, who served with honor and gave their lives for the freedoms that we hold dear,” O’Steen said. “These are the stories of fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, ordinary individuals who answered the call to serve during extraordinary times.”

Believing that every person who had served and was currently serving in the military was a true American hero, she expressed her resolve to become an American worth dying for, with telling the stories of service members like Durham and Grace being the least she could do in pursuing that goal.

O’Steen challenged the Tiftarea residents in attendance of the ceremony to view Memorial Day not just as a day of remembrance, but a call to action to truly honor the country’s fallen heroes and ensure their sacrifices were not in vain.

“Let us be a community that never ever forgets the high price that was paid for our freedom,” she said. “Today, as we bow our heads and raise our flags, let us carry forward the names of those fallen, and let us carry forward their stories.”

In closing, she offered a final expression of gratitude to the veterans gathered before her, thanking them for the sacrifices they and their families have made and the honor they had given her to in turn serve them as their, pledging to give her all to representing them each and every day.