Carroll County residents gathered at the Veterans Memorial Park Saturday morning for an emotional celebration of Memorial Day and the dedication of the newest name inscribed on a Killed in Action wall.

The name Thomas J. Strickland was added to the wall alongside Sgt. Michael Hardegree. The two were riding in the same humvee and killed in the same skirmish in Iraq in September 2007, said Roger Knowles, who conducted the dedication.

He joins other Carroll County soldiers who are remembered on the Killed in Action walls in the memorial - men and women who gave their lives in the line of duty in wars from the Civil War to the current war in Iraq.

“Duty is so much a part of our character,” said former Georgia Secretary of State and retired Lt. Gen. David Poythress, the invited speaker. “All we have to do is look around to see examples of that.”

But that sense of duty is not what defines Americans, Poythress said. What defines us are the values that we hold dear and the freedoms we feel honor-bound to protect for ourselves and those who come after us, he said.

The annual ceremony drew a couple hundred people to the park. The crowd, dotted with uniformed soldiers and veterans wearing hats to commemorate their service, came to remember and to honor the service of all veterans.

Tom Parker, a WWII veteran, and his wife, Beatrice, supported the park with donations and bought a number of stepping stones for family and for veterans who have died.

“I think I should be here to honor all veterans,” Parker said.

Two members of the local chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution wore Revolutionary War uniforms to commemorate their relatives who served in America’s first fight for independence.

“All of us should honor our ancestors,” said H.M. Dreyer, founder of the Casimir Pulaski chapter in Carroll County.

He wore the uniform in honor of his relative Daniel Russell, who served on the ship of John Paul Jones during the Revolutionary War.

Joel Gray and his 8-year-old daughter Taylor, who moved to Carrollton from Florida, have come to the ceremony for the last two years. A West Point Academy graduate, Gray has many friends serving in Iraq and comes to honor them.

“People lose sight of what Memorial Day is all about “ just think it’s just a three-day weekend,” he said. “We sat right next to the parents of the KIA that they honored today. I think the kid’s dad was stronger about it than I was.”

Gray is impressed with the “excellent, excellent park.”

The memorial park has been planned and constructed over the last five or six years, said Bill Maddox, one of the founding members of the park committee.

Maddox, an Air Force veteran, and some friends wanted to honor Carroll County veterans who have sacrificed for their country and their community, he said.

“There are some other memorials in other counties, surrounding counties,” he said. “We decided we needed something here in Carrollton.”

The memorial is continually being added and expanded. This year, landscaping was added and a fountain was completed in time for the ceremony today, Maddox said.

The group plans to add a pavilion, and there is room to add more names to the walls, he said.

The names of 800 veterans who are either from Carroll County or have some connection to Carroll County are inscribed on the white marble and black granite walls and the bricks edging the paths through the memorial, said Norris Garrett, president of the memorial committee. Another 330 veterans are listed on the Killed in Action walls, he said.

“As long as we have veterans, as long as we have wars, it will never be completed,” Garrett said.