— Submitted photo.

Walking through our neighborhood since we moved to Webster City last August, I’ve had the privilege to meet hundreds of men and women who have been to places I’ve only read about.

Some, to be honest, have been where I’ve also visited. I wish I had more time to get to know all of them and the stories they could tell me.

A love for history often has brought me to some locations that are seldom visited, though others are very familiar to most of us.

Names like Gettysburg, Antietam, Shiloh, Bataan, Guadalcanal or Andersonville are, to me, familiar spots I’ve enjoyed walking over, or sailing past. Others that I’d love to visit are North Africa, Sicily, Normandy and Monte Casino.

American men and women have been fighting and sacrificing for freedom, ours and others, for more than 200 years. A sampling of them can be found in our neighborhood. When you look closely at their marker, you can often see clues like their unit designation on a Civil War marker.

This will teach you so much if you look a bit deeper; you’ll learn where they may have been as younger men. Sometimes they didn’t have enough food, good clothing or even shoes to march in.

Sleeping without adequate shelter brought them close, honestly, as they “spooned” together to keep warm.

Iowa has, for its entirety as a state, displayed a fervor for real patriotism. Iowans have led the way in conflict; the first Americans to England in World War II were the 34th Division (Red Bulls) from Iowa and Minnesota.

The first battleship completed during the war was the USS IOWA. Many of those in our neighborhood were from Iowa, several from right here in Webster City.

I will not single out any individual person for this week’s column; instead, I feel it is fitting and right to honor each and every one who was more than willing to give their “last full measure of devotion,” if that is what was needed.

Memorial Day, or as it was originally called Decoration Day, began as a time to honor those who gave their lives during the American Civil War. Even today, there are towns, north and south, that lay claim to being the start of the commemoration.

Regardless, the important thing, to me at least, is that we DO remember… to honor those who gave up their own freedom to secure ours AND those who were willing to die but did not have to.

It’s not where you served, when you served, if you fought or guarded a beach… It’s your willingness to do it that really matters.

On this Memorial Day, fly an American flag; remember those who went before us, so we can have a day to remember them. Take time to walk through Our Neighborhood, meet some of these men and women… it’s their day!

When people thank me for my service on Memorial Day, I always remind them that my day is November 11 (Veterans Day).

Memorial Day belongs to those in my family that have also served; for the 13 generations preceding me.