Alpharetta To Dedicate New Veterans Memorial

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Alpharetta will dedicate the community’s new Veterans Memorial during a ceremony that will be held at the Brooke Street Park.

The ceremony will get underway at 10 a.m. Nov. 11 at the park, which is adjacent to Alpharetta City Hall.

The centerpiece of the memorial is a 7-foot tall bronze statue, “The Defenders,” featuring two soldiers in full combat gear.

Over the past three-and-a-half years, a group of volunteers led by committee co-chairs William Perkins and Alpharetta City Councilman Donald Mitchell have worked to raise more than $100,000 in private donations to fund the creation and installation of the statue.

The city of Alpharetta donated the land for the memorial and constructed the stone pedestal on which it will sit.

“The response from the community has truly been amazing,” Perkins said. “We received sizeable donations from several Alpharetta businesses as well as gifts given by individual citizens. Some could offer only a few dollars but it was important to those individuals that they play a part in honoring the men and women who so freely gave of themselves to honor and protect our nation. Every contribution came from the heart, and it truly makes the Alpharetta Veterans Memorial a tribute from our citizens in appreciation for what our veterans have done for us.”

During the dedication ceremony, event organizers will also introduce “Voices Of Our Veterans,” a series of video interviews with local veterans who speak about their experiences, why they chose to serve their country and what that service has meant to them.

Several clips from the series will be the spotlight of the program.

“It was important to us that this event be focused on the veterans; on those who were willing to, and in too many cases did, sacrifice their lives for the freedoms and lifestyle that we too often take for granted,” Mitchell said. “The stories that the veterans shared during these video interviews, in some cases stories they had not even told their families . . . the emotion, the loss, the pride . . . it is just incredible. There is no way that anyone can walk away from those stories without having a new appreciation for what these folks have done, have sacrificed, for us.”

The city’s event is scheduled to end promptly at 11 a.m., which is the exact moment 97 years ago when armistice went into effect that ended World War I.

“What better way to honor military veterans,” Mitchell, “than to recognize a moment when the guns fell silent and peace ruled the land?”

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Photo credit: city of Alpharetta