A 91 year old World War II veteran Melvin Dull was honored for his heroic World War II service. He received a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star and a POW Medal. His family was told that years ago that his records had been lost in a fire, preventing him from receiving his medals until recently when someone found them. He joined the Army in 1945 serving in northern and central Europe and was captured by enemy forces and taken as a prisoner in Germany. He said at one point, he and two other soldiers hid in a potato bin when Germans with flashlights entered a house and on another occasion before his capture a German soldier came out of a foxhole in a town and threw a grenade at him. Dull was able to put up his hand and block the grenade, but received injuries to his hand and chest. As Dull and his comrades were going house to house they went too far and they were captured and kept in a school house. Dull will never forget his time in the service and never thought anyone would ask about it let alone receive medals. During my time as a journalist I have done many stories about WWII veterans and while speaking to each one of them I realized that time is the adversary of remembrance. Someday soon these great patriots will no longer be with us to share their stories and we will no longer be able to listen to their words, shake their hands, or say thank you to their faces. Their history and war stories will be relegated to books, magazines, or to being told by family members who listened closely if or when one of the vets would open up about their time in the service. We must commemorate them with events like this as often as possible while never forgetting their sacrifices. It is our obligation and responsibility to commemorate and honor the gift our veterans have given us and our Allies – FREEDOM.