On a brisk October weekend the Daughters of the American Revolution dedicated the Never Forget Garden, which is found at the DAR School in Grant, Alabama. This charming herb and plant garden recalls that one hundred years ago the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington Cemetery was dedicated ‘to provide a final resting place for one of America’s unidentified World War I service members’. Through this tomb, all those lost and unknown who fought for the United States are remembered.

As I fly around our county, I overhear many accounts of those whose family’s losses to war go on and on. Long after the last shot is fired, the ghostly presence of those lost and unaccounted for still haunt their family members. These lost communicate their whispering presence through the mists of unknowing. What happened to them; where are they now? What parent, spouse, or child doesn’t wish, indeed yearn, to know?

Mr. Erich Snoke presented an account of his missing in action cousin, Captain Donald R. Snoke, US Army, World War II, to the DAR dedication ceremony. Captain Snoke, a captured West Point officer, after years of slave labor for the Japanese on the Philippines in World War II, was killed together with a thousand others Allied prisoners on a prison ‘hell ship’ which was taking them to Japan for more brutal toil. Where is Captain Snoke?

Where is Eddie Gibson, USMC? A Limestone Countian knew Eddie’s best friend. That friend would forever remember Eddie’s sense of humor and good fellowship, lost forever to a ‘human wave’ attack in Korea. Where are those lost at sea, those buried alive in explosions, and those prisoners unaccounted for? All bear witness to the failure that all wars represent. When even a Medal of Honor Winner, Willibald Bianchi, is among those unaccounted for, we must pause to wonder why. What accounts exist of their final hours? Are they in a tomb, but not yet identified through the wonderful new science of DNA? They may be, because that technology didn’t exist until recently. If possible sites are known, why not look there, to finally reunite the lost with their family?

We celebrate Veteran’s Day as a way of showing appreciation to all those who defended our country. Those who, in service to a nation conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, did their best when called upon. Whether they parachuted into Normandy, or loaded aircraft in Vietnam, or served in the mess hall in Daharan, Saudi Arabia, everyone did the part they were given. Everyone was a good American, defending us all.

As I landed by the herbs at the Never Forget Garden, I was drawn to the Sage. Sage is the symbol of long life, wisdom, and virtue. I’m sure all veterans share something of this herbal reminder as they reflect upon their time in service. Who can’t forget the sergeant who took the time to show that wisdom comes from asking for help; that saying you’re sorry for a wrong is how to build a squad, or character. What veteran, when seeing the garden’s cedar tree, symbol of healing, remembers the fellow military member who befriended him, or even saved him. What was special about that veteran’s rescue or friendship was that the man or woman wasn’t from his race, or religious belief, or even like him in other ways; but was there for him as a fellow American.

We’ve a lot to remember, as the herb Rosemary recalls. Dignity and perseverance, symbolized by the garden’s Magnolia, is best honored when we the living do our best to avoid war as a solution; when we do all in our power to solve problems with diplomacy and with patience. In this way we respect our veterans, by not asking for their final sacrifice.

I hope you plant a forget-me-not flower to remember Veterans Day. Let’s not forget; let’s try to build a world where it is easier to visit a garden than go to war.