I feel a great sense of pride in the fact that my Father served his country in time of war. My Father served as proudly as any American in uniform could have served in Germany during WWII, in Korea and again in Vietnam. He passed away on this day in 1968 after never really recovering from wounds received during the Tet Offensive.

The historian Stephen Ambrose wrote,

"A memorial's message is not just a remembrance of past sacrifice. It is a reminder to future generations that the touch of freedom is now theirs to carry; that the patriotism, the unity and the responsibility of war's generations cannot be relegated to stone and mortar merely to remember, but that these are values to nourish and maintain in each generation."