Atlanta History Center’s New Park Uses Latest Technology to Tell Veterans’ Stories
Lisa George / WABE
Memorial Day marked the dedication of a new Veterans Park at the Atlanta History Center; it is a park that will commemorate American history in a very new way.
At the corner of West Paces Ferry Road and Slaton Drive, the park not only features free Wi-Fi but a way to use it to get a quick history lesson.Lisa George reports.
Scattered throughout the park are pedestals. Each has a panel on top that includes a QR code. Just scan the code with your smartphone, and you can immediately access videos of veterans sharing their stories.
During his speech dedicating the park, Governor Nathan Deal, himself a veteran, called the interactive nature of the park altogether appropriate.
“Sometimes a name on a wall is not enough to be able to convey the true meaning of the sacrifice,” said Deal. “To be able to hear stories, to understand the circumstances and the hardships and the sacrifices that go along with military service especially in time of war is a very important message to be conveyed to our next generation.”
The dedication also featured what is known as a sacred soil ceremony. Veterans poured soil brought from the locations of each American conflict into a helmet that had been worn by an American soldier at Utah Beach on D-Day; the soil was then scattered around the park’s flagpole. More of that soil will be placed in a time capsule and buried below the United States seal located in the park.
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