The South has produced more than its share of this country's warriors through the centuries, and that is no less true today than it was in 1781 or 1918 or 1944. Georgia, being one of the largest Southern states population-wise, also has a disproportionately large number of veterans. That goes for Marietta and Cobb County as well.

Part of this country's ethos is to try and make its wounded warriors whole when they come back. And that is where the new Marietta Vet Center at 40 Dodd St., comes in. The 4,200-square-foot center started seeing patients in October but conducted its official opening last weekend. It offers not just readjustment counseling, but also case management, individual counseling, group counseling, community outreach, referral services and more to veterans and their families.

For more about the center, which is operated by the U.S. Veterans Affairs Department, call (678) 290-0772.

On hand for the grand opening was L. Tammy Duckworth, assistant veterans' affairs secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs. A former Army helicopter pilot, she was severely wounded during the Iraq War, losing both legs and partial use of an arm. She told attendees at the grand opening of her struggle, and what the center offers.

"We may not have served during the same war ...but, we have the same experience," she said. "That's what this vet center does. This is a place where you can sit down - maybe with another veteran from Iraq or Afghanistan, Vietnam, Korea, World War II or peace time - and say, 'You know, I've been in that hole you're in. I'm going to climb in there with you because I know the way out and I'm gonna show you the way out.'"

Ms. Duckworth ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Congress in Illinois in 2004. She lauded what the new center offers.

"This is your vet center, your community," she said. "This is vets helping vets to get through the things that we've got to get through so that we can all go back and have a piece of that American dream. That dream that we fought for, for everyone else.

"No one deserves it more than the young men and women of this country. I call them our greatest national treasure, who are willing to die to protect those freedoms for other people."

The new center will be convenient for Cobb's many thousands of veterans to use, and is a reminder of what we owe those who have done so much for us.