Todd Young: “the worth of a nation can be measured by what it honors and what it neglects. In a quiet spot among the rolling hills of…”

“the worth of a nation can be measured by what it honors and what it neglects. In a quiet spot among the rolling hills of Monroe County, IN, the statue of a young soldier keeps watch over a lonely cemetery. The Doughboy stands at parade rest, campaign hat atop his head, canteen and trench digger on his cartridge belt, Springfield rifle by his side. Nearby, a wreath, ringed with red white and blue flowers, rests on a grave. It was Americans like Private Thomas Forest Riddle who helped win the Great War but not without terrible, terrible sacrifice. As we prepare to observe Memorial Day this year, we honor all Americans who have risked their lives and, in many cases, given their lives for our liberty. In April 1917, America formally entered what we now call World War I, after votes in this building--in this building. And 2 months later, Private Riddle, a 21-year-old farm boy from Unionville, IN, reported for duty. He visited a recruiting station right down the road in Martinsville, next door to where I live today. The first doughboys deployed in the summer of 1917, but it wasn't until the following year that the hastily mobilized and inexperienced American Expeditionary Force, known as AEF, arrived in numbers, and Private Riddle was assigned to Company D--Delta Company--of the 12th Machine Gun Battalion, Fourth Division. In June 1918, the battalion packed into the Aquitania, and it sailed for France.…”