By By Adrienne McKenzie
Memorial Day is a day to remember those men and women who have sacrificed their lives in order for America to be what it is today.
Monday, Atmore area veterans of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7016 and the American Legion, assisted by the NJROTC of Escambia County High School, held a Memorial Day remembrance celebration at Oak Hill Cemetery.
The event began with Atmore mayor Howard Shell speaking about what Memorial Day means to him and to thank those who hosted the event.
"Today is a day that we all need to pause and remember how we got the freedoms that we enjoy and those people who fought for our freedoms," Shell said. "We are all here today to remember that and hope that this memory never dies. I want to thank the VFW and American Legion for keeping that memory alive in Atmore to honor all of our veterans."
VFW member Bobby Davis spoke at the Memorial Day ceremony about the tribute to our fallen heroes.
"We gather together this Memorial Day to pay tribute to those who died while answering the call of duty," Davis said. "Honoring and remembering their sacrifice serves to remind us not only the cost of war, but perhaps more importantly the price we must pay for peace, that freedom isn't an entitlement. It is achieved with burden and with a price."
Chaplain Glenn Wardrop conducted a prayer and then the veterans, along with those who attended the event, sang "God Bless America" together.
Those who fought and died in the following wars were remembered at the event: World War I, World War II, Korean Conflict, Vietnam, Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, Iraq and any war prior these.
The ceremony ended with the playing of "Taps" and the raising of the American Flag.