Photo By Maj. Bryant Wine | Mrs. Shannon Allen and daughter, Journey, unveil the memorial plaque commemorating...... read more read more
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Governor Brian Kemp joined the Georgia Department of Defense for its annual Memorial Day observance at Clay National Guard Center in Marietta, Ga. May 21, 2020. Major General Tom Carden, the Adjutant General of the Ga. DoD, presided over the virtual ceremony in which participants donned face coverings and practiced social-distancing to mitigate the risk of spreading COVID-19.
This year, the Ga. DoD added a plaque to the memorial wall at Clay National Guard Center in memory of Master Sgt. Mark Allen. The dedication brings the total number of service members honored on the wall to 43.
“As I stand in front of this wall of 43 names, I am reminded of the bravery of our fellow Georgians and Americans who stand in the gap and fight for the freedoms we hold dear” said Gov. Kemp. “That is why we are here today. Each Memorial Day, we have the opportunity and responsibility to remember the fallen, as well as to acknowledge our blessings.”
Allen, of Loganville, Ga., died Oct. 12, 2019 from wounds received during combat operations in July 2009 while deployed to Afghanistan. Allen enlisted in the US Army on July 10, 1991 as an indirect fire infantryman. In 1995, he joined the Florida Army National Guard and then transferred to the Georgia Army National Guard in 1998. Allen deployed to the Sinai Peninsula as part of the Multinational Force and Observers Peacekeeping Mission from July 1994 to January 1995, to Iraq from May 2005 to May 2006 during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and to Afghanistan from April to July 2009 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Allen retired May 30, 2013 after 22 years military service due to effects of wounds received in Afghanistan.
“To the family and friends of retired Master Sergeant Mark Christopher Allen and the countless families around our state and around our country who have lost loved ones, thank you for your bravery and resilience” said Gov. Kemp. “We cannot imagine the loss and the challenges that you all have faced. But I can promise you that as we observe this Memorial Day, your fellow Georgians and Americans join you in honoring the memory of your loved one and their sacrifice.”
During the ceremony, retired Command Sgt. Major James Nelson, former State Command Sgt. Major of the Ga. ARNG and chairman of the Freedom Calls Memorial Foundation, recounted the history of Memorial Day. Afterwards, Command Sgt. Major Roy Marchert, senior enlisted advisor of the Georgia National Guard, recited the poem “In Flanders Fields.”
Major General Carden and Command Sgt. Major Marchert placed a wreath before the memorial wall, then rendered honors while the names of the enshrined 43 service members were read aloud. After the playing of “Taps” by Spc. Adam Mitchell, of the Marietta-based 116th Army Band, two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters of the Georgia Army National Guard’s Marietta-based Company A, 1st Battalion, 171st Aviation Regiment, 78th Aviation Troop Command, flew over the ceremony in honor of the fallen.
The virtual ceremony concluded with a benediction from Chaplain Maj. Jon Pirtle.
“Greater love has no end than this that somebody lay down his life for his friends” said Pirtle in his benediction. “And of that, we have proof. This is why we should have hope. As we remember our fallen, we know that we can carry on through hope.”
| Date Taken: | 05.21.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 05.21.2020 15:21 |
| Story ID: | 370565 |
| Location: | MARIETTA, GA, US |
| Web Views: | 266 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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