Editor’s note: This tribute was written by John Vick. It is framed and was presented by the new Covington Veterans Foundation to hang near the painting shown here,  in Andalusia City Hall.

Were they aunts, uncles, cousins, or just people you knew that day they fell – Who were they thinking of? Was it mothers? Fathers? Comrades? Sweethearts? Or whom?

They answered the alarm and said, “Send us. Our country calls.”

Without a thought, they pledged their hearts and minds, even their very souls.

Do we still care? These young people from Anywhere, USA – are they to be forgotten? While we build families and dreams – they lie on lonely hills, with no one to mourn them.

We can do better than this. Each one of us knows someone who served.

Those who returned were the lucky ones – intact, in both body and mind. But many of those young teenagers will never live out their dreams. How many doctors, inventors, teachers or other great lives were lost when they fell?

Maybe the world was saved from Fascism, Nazism or Communism – but is the world grateful? So many alive today owe their lives and freedom to those who gave that last full measure.

Let us pledge that those heroes who died on distant battlefields will never be forgotten. Those young men and women deserve our everlasting gratitude.

One day in the future, our nation will call again. Who will answer? America needs heroes. Only those who have been told about our country’s past heroes will step forward.

As the sound of “Taps” fades away, so do the memories of those brave men and women. Who will speak for them?

The gratitude of a nation can be their voice, lest they be forgotten. Remember them – be the voice for those who cannot speak.

Dedicated to all those who served in the Armed Forces of our country, but especially to those who served and never returned.

John Vick

May 27, 2019