Elizabeth Ann Jones...

There are 58,318 names etched in the black granite of the Vietnam Memorial Monument in Washington DC.  They represent the veterans that lost their lives in that conflict.  There are  six names from San Juan County.
There are only eight names that are for women; it was a different time.  My 10-year granddaughter wants to see one and touch the name and say it out loud to ensure that we don’t forget the person who paid the ultimate sacrifice defending our freedoms.  We find the name; it is Elizabeth Ann Jones.
A few winters ago, we learned to say the names of those that have passed on when we (thousands of volunteers) helped place Christmas wreathes on every single gravestone at Arlington National Cemetery.  They asked us to place the wreath at the gravestone and say the name out loud to ensure that these dedicated men and women who gave their life in the service of their country would not be forgotten.  It seems like a small but important gesture.
Whenever a grandkid turns ten, we have made it a tradition to go on a vacation to Washington DC and give them a lesson in American history hoping that we can nurture their budding patriotism and make them full-blooded patriots. 
We drag them to each monument and try to explain the sacrifice it represents.   We always end up talking about how someone died; but we try to explain the monument was built to honor how they chose to live their life and their deliberate unselfish acts. 
We try to make them believe that democracy is made up of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.  Afterall, George Washington just wanted to be a farmer.
We go on and on a about how these past patriots were willing to defend and die for ideals we sometimes take for granted like freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and the right for people to peaceably assemble.
We try to explain why it matters that these patriots gave everything they had, including their life so that Americans could live a better life and humankind could also benefit.
We tried to explain how the nineteen haunting figures in the Korean War memorial honors the nearly 40,000 that died and the 100,000 that were wounded. 
We read aloud the words set in stone which capture an ideal that is hard to explain but important to believe, “Our nation honors her sons and daughters who answered the call to defend a country they never knew and a people they never met.”
Who does that?  Who fights for and gives their very life protecting and giving others the beacon of hope and light stated in the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
I have a deeply personal and spiritual experience visiting the Lincoln Monument.  I make my grandkids listen while a recite out loud the Gettysburg Address, a mere 272 words “Four score and seven years ago…”
Those words were hastily written but flowed from his heart onto the back of an envelope.  The ideas articulated held the country together, promised hope to those that had not tasted freedom, provided comfort to a war torn country, honored those that had died  and sent a clear message of determination to those watching to see if the American ideals really were a better idea.
We try to explain that there are ideas and ideals worth dying for and that it matters what choices they make, and that one person can change the world. 
We try to explain that although they are just words like “I have a dream…” and “we hold these truths to be self-evident...”  That words represent ideas, and ideas represent hopes and dreams which can spur men into action, demonstrating that sometimes “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one.” because it is for the greater good. 
Although, it is kind of hokey, we make them watch “American Treasure” with us and stop the movie to listen to Nicholas Cage say, “Those that have the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action.”
We try to explain that when the 56 people signed the Declaration of Independence they committed high treason which was punishable by death and that they were telling the world’s superpower that they could keep their tea, taxes and King and take a hike. 
Because “government of the people, by the people, for the people” represented a better idea; an idea that would ring across the nation and eventually around the world and was an idea which we were willing to fight and die for.
We try to explain that the picture in the rotunda of the Capital showing George Washington holding out his hand resigning his commission as commander and chief and establishing civilian authority over the military was indeed the most unselfish act a man has ever committed. 
It was a peaceful transfer of power and is fundamental to our “great experiment” called democracy.  George Washington, was Commander and Chief and had just defeated the most powerful nation in the world.  His troops would have carried out any order he gave, he could have been king or dictator, but he chose to live by the ideals that he had fought for.
Who does that?  We do.  Americans do.  We have been a beacon of light to the world, we have protected and served all over the world and sometimes we don’t even get a thank you. 
Our flag has been burned and trampled on, our buildings have been bombed and destroyed.  And here I am standing in the Capitol rotunda where barely a year ago a mob stormed through. 
But we are still standing…the words President Kennedy said, “…With history as the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help.  But knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.”
Who talks like that?  Who does that?  We do.  Americans do.  And I for one am proud to be an American. 
Let’s offer our veterans and patriots, past and present, our heartfelt gratitude for their service.  The six names from San Juan County are:  David Howard Benallie, Robert Lee Brock, Lyle Clint Palmer, Dick Hooten Christensen, Curtis Harold Ransdell, and Jimmie Charles Scrogum. 
Take a minute to say their names out loud to ensure they are not forgotten.  And remember for those that served and survived you don’t have to wait until they die to say their name out loud and thank them for their service.  It seems like a small but important gesture.