Coweta County man honors fallen heroes with personal Memorial Day tribute

COWETA COUNTY, Ga. - A Coweta County man has turned his front yard into a giant Memorial Day display to honor fallen military members.

While most people tend to their lawns by mowing and weeding, John Ivey of Senoia has turned his front yard into something meaningful for Memorial Day. He has placed 100 white crosses and etched plaques with the names and photos of fallen U.S. service members.

"There are a lot of beautiful memorials that have names, but when you can see a face, that’s a person," Ivey said.

Ivey is a Clayton County police officer and in his spare time, he learned to sandblast the memorials with the names, branches of service and the pictures of fallen soldiers.

He lives on Mount Paran Drive in Senoia and invites people to come and view the memorial.

<div>John Ivey of Senoia hopes his law display helps people take a moment to remember the lives lost protecting our country.</div>
John Ivey of Senoia hopes his law display helps people take a moment to remember the lives lost protecting our country.

John started the memorial a few years ago. Right now, he says, there are an equal number of local service members and others from the rest of the country. In growing the memorial in the future, he says he will begin adding all the names of Georgia’s fallen, until their facies and their stories are all remembered here.

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There is no admission charge, no donations are excepted, this is all free of charge.

<div>John Ivey of Senoia hopes his law display helps people take a moment to remember the lives lost protecting our country.</div>
John Ivey of Senoia hopes his law display helps people take a moment to remember the lives lost protecting our country.

John Ivey says if you can’t make it down to Senoia this weekend, he hopes that wherever you are this weekend, that you’ll stop and remember the price that was paid.