Wood County paid solemn tribute to those who gave their lives in service to country in a traditional ceremony on the lawn of the county courthouse in Quitman Monday morning.

It concluded at noon with the raising of the U.S. flag from half to full staff and the playing of Taps.

“Our hearts remember those who have fallen,” Bobby Ullman, U.S. Marine, prayed during the ceremony.

We should not take our freedom for granted, and they should not have died in vain, he said.

Emcee James Attaway, an Army veteran, recounted the history of Memorial Day, celebrated the last Monday in May since 1971, and the history of the veterans monument on the courthouse square, installed 24 years ago.

Marine Corps and Vietnam veteran Jim Bailey gave the address, calling for all not only to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice but those who are still battling.

The scars are not always visible, he said, but they run deep.

Veterans and their families should receive the care and the support they have earned.

He described the background of the Gold Star, which signifies those families whose members made the sacrifice to the nation.

Quoting John F. Kennedy, he noted that we should not just utter words but live by them.

“Their bravery echoes through history,” Bailey said of the fallen.

We pledge to honor the fallen and uplift the living, he concluded.

Recognition was made for the three Gold Star families represented: Lance Corporal Shane Goldman, 2011 in Iraq; Sergeant Josh Powell, 2011 in Afghanistan; and Staff Sergeant Richard Vasquez, 2103 in Afghanistan. 

Three founding members of the veterans monument committee, Bobby Grant, Joe Sayles and Jim Attaway, were also recognized.