Honor the dead by helping the living

If a picture is worth a thousand words, cartoonist B.J. Woods' cartoon today speaks volumes.

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Wood, a U.S. Army veteran, says he worries each year about confusing the Memorial Day and Veterans Day holidays; the former is to remember the dead, and the latter is to celebrate the living. In Columbia County, we've blurred that a little more with an annual Memorial Day weekend celebration that does both.

This year, as Wood's art points out, the horrific shootings at Ford Hood obscure the lines even further. It's impossible to observe Veterans Day today without mourning the deaths of 13 veterans.

One of those dead is U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Justin DeCrow, whose family lives in Evans. His daughter's school, Evans Middle, is collecting donations for them.

What better way to honor our veterans today than to contribute to the family of one of the fallen.