Member organizations of the West Georgia Veterans Council plan to host a collection of events this coming weekend to commemorate Memorial Day.

“Freedom ain’t really free and a lot of people paid the price for it,” said Bernard Bledsoe of the West Georgia Veteran’s Council. “A lot of people have invested in our freedom.”

Friday morning at 9 a.m. the council will be placing more than 1,000 flags on the graves of veterans and is inviting the community to attend. Additionally, members will be recollecting the flags Tuesday, May 28 at 9 a.m.

The councils’ annual Memorial Day Service will begin 11 a.m. Monday morning at Meadoway Gardens, rain or shine. Lt. Col. Manuel Zepeda, the director of the joint interagency operations course at the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, is scheduled to attend and share remarks as well.

“As part of the event, we will have a guest speaker from Fort Benning come up as well as leaders of the veteran’s council put a wreath on a veteran’s grave,” Bledsoe said.

Bledsoe said that Memorial Day is a chance for families to come out and learn more about veterans and their service to our country.

“It’s an opportunity to bring families out and tell them how to identify veterans’ graves, because they don’t realize the difference and how many veterans’ graves are out there,” Bledsoe said.

“Memorial Day is an opportunity not just to have a hot dogs and hamburgers kind of day, but to recognize those who have paid for our freedom. The missions of the leagues are to service veterans and their families and uphold the reputation of their branch of service. We keep the community up-to-date on what freedom is.”