An elderly man with a long white beard and wearing a uniform, sits on the ground peering at the camera. His cane is propped against his knees. He is surrounded by men as old as himself, also wearing uniforms, with their backs to a cannon and a granite monument. The year is 1904. The old man was my great grandfather, Mathias Mosman, a veteran of the Civil War. Standing behind the camera and out of the picture is my grandfather, a boy of five. He had followed the old men up the hill to the cemetery for the Memorial Day picture.

From about 1960 to 1970 I myself visited that spot every year on Memorial Day. For years I rode my bicycle behind the parade to the town hall where some dignitary, often the mayor, delivered a patriotic speech about the sacrifices that had been made to keep our nation free. When the address was over, two boys from the high school marching band played taps. In 1969 and 1970, I was one of the trumpeters. My whole family was there for every parade and speech, including my Dad and many other World War II veterans. We then went up to the cemetery and put flags on the graves.

All the men in the old picture are long in their tombs, most of them in that cemetery. My great- grandfather is buried there, as are my grandfather and father. It won’t be many years before the World War II generation is as completely gone as the Civil War and WWI soldiers. The remembrance of their deeds and sacrifice, however, lives on in the archives of history: the books, the photo images, the gravestones and most of all, in the hearts of their countrymen.

Memorial Day ought to be celebrated with great fanfare but we should also be deeply humbled to recognize the great favor God has shown our nation. We need to reflect on the human costs that secured the freedoms that we enjoy today. Just as we are enjoined not to “remove the ancient landmarks,” so too, should we remember those ancient principles of liberty bequeathed to us through the generations and enshrined in the United States Constitution.

If we are not celebrating and commemorating our heroes of the past with our children, they will not learn nor will they appreciate what every American generation till now has realized. They will not be thankful if we are not thankful; what is taken for granted is easier to lose.

Bill Potter