Veterans reflect on fallen comrades at Macon Memorial Park ceremony

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – As we honor those in the armed forces who died to protect this country on Memorial Day, more than a hundred people in Macon  celebrated those lives as part of an annual tradition.

Several veterans say reflecting on war memories are painful, but thinking of their fallen comrades hurts even more.

“If you’ve been where I’ve been you’d understand. I was so proud to serve this great nation,” Bob Paschal, a retired Air Force veteran who served in the Korean War, said.

Dozens honored the lives and legacies of fallen military men and women at Macon Memorial Park and a new face reflected on the sacrifice it takes to protect this country.

“Part of being an army veteran is that’s a part of who I am. I believe that values are important for all of us in what we do,” Dr. Curtis Jones, Bibb County Schools superintendent, said.

Jones spoke to the crowd about leadership and values — a core that he says shaped his time in the army and as an educator.

“What I tried to share today is that values are important. Values are important to the military it helps make us who we are so we can be successful and I think they can also help us in education,” Jones said.

It’s values Paschal and Bill Freeman think about and uphold. The two Korean War veterans say Memorial Day always brings them back to their time in the Air Force and the friends they lost along the way.

“I had flown 35 missions, but I wasn’t leaving them marines there. They were getting the hell knocked out of them and I loosened that up. I was honored to be a part of it,” Paschal said.

Freeman was a prisoner of war for two and half years — there were thousands with him in the prison camps.

“Only 92 lived to come back to this country and I think about them all the time,” Freeman said.

Despite the decoration, the honors, and the achievements, Freeman says the day is about his fallen comrades.

“They’re the heroes, the ones that died and gave it all,” he said. “We gave some, but they gave it all.”

More than 1,000 Bibb County military men and women were killed in action in wars dating back to World War I.