I was involved with Scouting from a very early age. I was, at first, a Cub Scout, then a Webelos, and finally a Boy Scout.
The weekend before Memorial Day, in my first year as a Boy Scout, my troop and I spent the entire weekend placing flags on the graves of all of the veterans in two of the townships in Fountain County, Indiana – mostly around my hometown of Covington, Indiana. There were hundreds of them – including my paternal grandfather, James “Jay” Strawser, who served in the Second World War.
It was this experience, and many others like it growing up, that have instilled in me, a deep recognition of the sacrifice that our veterans have made.
This picture in today’s Boston Globe reminded me of those many days spent in the late spring sun, planting flags and remembering those that came before us:
