Many people go to college, then come out and make a difference in their workplace. Then there are people like Krystle Cato and the Bainbridge College Student Veterans of America, who are already making a difference.

Cato, the president of the local SVA, saw a niche that needed to be filled. Although Bainbridge has a beautiful Veterans Day ceremony every year, recently there has not been a similar public celebration for Memorial Day. Cato’s organization did their part to change that this year, sponsoring a small-but-meaningful ceremony at Willis Park. In addition to a speech by Sheriff Wiley Griffin, the ceremony also included the playing of Taps and the singing of the national anthem. It was attended by many public figures, including Bainbridge Public Safety officers and Sheriff’s Office deputies.

Cato later said that the local Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion posts have seen their participation numbers dwindle recently, and it was difficult to have public ceremonies for both holidays — and so they chose to put the focus on Veterans Day. Cato, who is a veteran herself and served five-and-a-half years in the U.S. Navy, saw an opportunity for her group to fill that void.

We hope that other organizations will join the SVA for next year’s Memorial Day ceremony, and that it becomes a new annual tradition. We should do everything we can to publicly recognize and honor our military heroes, as often as we can.