American flag image appears in clouds over Veterans Day ceremony on Coleman Hill

As the clock at Mercer law school chimed 11 times Friday morning, dozens of people were gathered at the World War I memorial on Coleman Hill.

Macon-Bibb County Mayor Robert Reichert pointed out the granite monument to the 151st Machine Gun Battalion, 42nd Rainbow Division, commemorating the sacrifice of local boys who gave their lives in the “war to end all wars.”

“Were they successful? Unfortunately not. We’ve had wars since World War I,” Reichert said. “It can be a time where it’s hard to be optimistic, where it’s hard to think that we’ll ever get beyond war. But, how appropriate it is that we gather here, not only to give thanks to our veterans who serve, but to also be joined by an international contingent.”

A delegation of Japanese students, guests from Macon’s sister city of Kurobe, are visiting to learn more about American culture.

“How wonderful it is that they are here to understand, to appreciate this celebration and why we gather here today,” Reichert said.

Reichert’s grandfather-in-law, Daniel Dunwody, fought with the battalion that is etched there in stone, but the monument was largely overlooked in recent decades.

When Middle Georgia State University President Christopher Blake moved to town a few years ago, he recognized the significance of the tribute overlooking downtown Macon.

The university has planted flowers at the base, and lighting was installed to highlight it at night.

The college and the county have held Veterans Day observances there ever since.

Desert Storm veteran and current Middle Georgia State student Shelby Davis attended for the first time Friday.

“It’s beautiful because it represents us all, as far as I’m concerned,” Davis said. “A lot of people are proud to have served.”

At the base of the bronze plaque is a Latin inscription that translates “It is sweet and glorious to die for one’s country.”

Blake’s great-great-uncle died in World War I. Both his grandfathers lied about their age to join in the international fight a century ago.

“The freedoms that I enjoy, I know that my ancestors directly contributed to gifting,” said Blake, who handed out commemorative coins to veterans at the ceremony.

With a ceramic poppy at his feet, Blake spoke of the significance of the flower found growing on Belgium’s war-torn battlefields of Flanders.

In the years that followed, its red petals began to symbolize remembrance.

To commemorate the centennial of the war in 2014, a million poppies were draped around the Tower of London in his native England. Each flower remembered one of his countrymen killed in the war.

“They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we shall remember them,” Blake read before he and Reichert placed wreaths at the memorial.

The university president asked his director of bands to play “Abide with Me” on the trumpet.

As retired Air Force Maj. Alan Clark stood with his horn atop a ridge on the hill, something short of miraculous appeared above him: Clouds formed what looked like the American flag.

The moment was not lost on Cheryl Carty, Middle Georgia State’s executive director of marketing and communications. She attended with her husband, Army Col. Bill Carty, now stationed at Fort Benning.

“I just got chills,” Carty said.

This story was originally published November 11, 2016 at 2:07 PM with the headline "American flag image appears in clouds over Veterans Day ceremony on Coleman Hill."