Not every act of remembrance requires a trek through a graveyard. Today, the community and members of the Colonel James Wood II Chapter gathered at Trinity Lutheran Church for the Pomeroy Marker Dedication, honoring three American Revolution veterans.

While the actual markers mark the final resting places of these soldiers, our ceremony took place primarily at the church, with most of us gathered in the parking lot. It was a powerful sight: a modern Virginia morning, a local church lot, and a group of people dedicated to reaching back across two and a half centuries to say “thank you.”

Even without walking through the rows of the cemetery, the significance of the moment wasn’t lost on anyone. We stood together to hear the stories of these three men—individuals who left their homes to fight for a concept of liberty they wouldn’t live to see reach its 250th year. Seeing the SAR Color Guard and the various patriotic organizations present gave the church grounds a sense of historic gravity.

Participating in this event from the parking lot reminded me that the SAR’s mission is as much about the living as it is the dead. It’s about us, as a community, choosing to stop our Saturday routines to acknowledge the foundations of our freedom.

It was a meaningful morning of fellowship and history, and a reminder that wherever we gather to honor our ancestors, that ground becomes a place of tribute.