Ceremony held to designate Blue Star highway
Nov. 11—Many in the audience for a ceremony to dedicate a Blue Star Memorial Highway marker Wednesday at the Exit 1 rest area on northbound Interstate 95 had the same question: What took so long?
The highway markers have been erected across the nation since 1945 but Camden County, home to Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay more than 40 years, didn't have one.
Betty King, president of the St. Marys Garden Club, said her organization began the effort two years ago to get the memorial highway designation for I-95 and the marker at the rest area.
For King, whose late husband Col. Barrett King died from COVID-19 earlier this year, the marker was important.
"I think our county deserves the Blue Star Memorial Highway designation," she said. "It's real personal for me. I had a husband and two sons serve in the military at the same time."
Kingsland Mayor Grayson Day said the designation is overdue.
"I'm a little bit surprised surprised it took so long, but I'm excited to see it," Day said. "Things take time."
Peggy Tucker, president of the Garden Club of Georgia, said Wednesday's ceremony in St. Marys was one of three planned this week in the state.
St. Marys City Manager Robert Horton said it was an honor to recognize "those willing to protect the freedoms of our great country."
"This signifies the city's commitment to never forget," he said.
Keynote speaker, retired Vice Adm. Al Konetzni, said he first served at Kings Bay in 1986 with the orders to be engaged in the community.
"I live here and I love it," he said.
He expressed appreciation at the quality of those serving in an all-volunteer military.
"We don't have a draft now," he said. "How do we get these men and women?"
He said Camden County's support for the military is the best in the nation. He used the construction of the St. Marys Submarine Museum 25 years ago as an example of what a close-knit military community can accomplish. The museum, with one of the nation's largest collections of World War II war patrols reports and a wide selection of artifacts from all eras, was built entirely on donations.
"There is no city in the country that can make that happen," he said. "You're bringing the veterans, the active duty folks to the community."
As for the new marker, Konetzni was succinct: "This is glorious."
