Gwinnett community honors fallen service members, public servants in emotional induction ceremony

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - Members of Gwinnett County’s community came together for an emotional tribute in honor of the fallen heroes and public servants on Monday afternoon.

"This year’s Memorial Day celebration feels different in so many ways," said Kirkland Carden, a county commissioner. "Recent tragedies around our country remind us just how precious yet fragile our health safety and freedom can be."

Three community members were inducted into the Fallen Heroes Memorial. A county employee who was killed on the job was already inducted but honored at the ceremony, according to a press release from the county:

Constantin Bolof (Gwinnett County)

• Constantin "Gigi" Bolof, an employee with the Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources who was struck and killed by a vehicle while directing traffic around a construction site in September 2021. Bolof was inducted into the memorial in fall 2021 during a private ceremony.

Ronald Donat (Gwinnett County Police Department)

• Ronald Jean Donat, a Gwinnett County Police Department recruit who experienced a medical emergency during physical training at the Gwinnett Police Training Center and passed away in October 2021.

Jonathan E Gierke (Courtesy of MCCS Recruit Photo at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island)

• Lance Cpl. Jonathan Edward Gierke, a Marine from Lawrenceville who was killed in a military vehicle crash near Camp Lejeune in North Carolina in January 2022.

American Medical Response said EMT Logan Wade died early Saturday morning. He and his partner were traveling to help Hurricane Ida victims in Louisiana.  (FOX 5 Atlanta)

• Logan James Wade, who grew up in Gwinnett County and was employed as an EMT with American Medical Response. Wade was killed in September 2021 while rendering aid at the scene of a car crash on I-85 while en route to deliver supplies to first responders assisting in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida in Louisiana. 

"Long after we leave this earth," said Lt. Col. Jasper Watkins III (ret.), also a county commissioner, "Their names will remain carved in these granite markers for future generations of residents to remember each Memorial Day."