The first thing you notice is how young they look: Just 17 or 18 or 19, the officers a little older. Their faces are thin, and they look fit, standing proudly at attention in their uniforms. They’re wearing the distinctive First World War–era puttees around their legs and the iconic M1911 “Smoky Bear” campaign covers on their heads.

There are about 120 doughboys in this ancient, crumbling photograph. The placard in the front of the unit reads:

CO. No. 17
Detention Camp. Bn.15
Camp Greenleaf.Ga. Aug. 1. ’18

My great-grandfather, William Ingram, born in Arkansas in the 19th century, is in that photograph, though I’m not sure which young man is him. Other than family stories and reconstructed family trees, it’s all I have of his that has come down to me.

Two decades later, Bill’s three boys — Billie, Benson, and Jackie — fought in the Second World War. All three have now passed beyond this vale of tears, but I remember, when I was young, sitting at their feet and listening to their stories about the Depression and working the farm and how exciting it was to go up to the Big City (Tulsa) every once in a while. They never spoke much about the war, though I knew they had fought in it, and I revered their memory.

There’s a lot of talk these days about how far America has fallen. How it’s but a shadow of its once sturdier ways. There’s some truth to this, of course. But decline is a choice. The men in Bill Ingram’s photograph understood that, as American citizens, they had rights — but they also had duties. And they loved their country, warts and all. That’s why they were willing to put on their nation’s cloth when the need was urgent.

If we want a national recovery, at the end of the day, it’s that simple. We must remember that our God-given rights must be sustained by a sense of devoted duty, and they must be paired with love of home, and family, and country, warts and all.

At National Review, it’s that spirit that we work every day to rekindle. Day-to-day political coverage and holding leftist media accountable is an important task — and we do it better than anyone — but at the core, we aim to inspire in people a memory of a higher degree of citizenship. We strive to honor the men and women who bled to maintain our liberty, and to honor them by privileging our family, our homes, and our country over pettiness and tribalism or the whims of the federal behemoth in Washington.

This Memorial Day, we have a special rate for our readers, a full 60 percent off a year of NRPLUS. If you enjoy our work, if you believe in what we do and support our cause and our mission, you can slip past the paywall by beginning your membership today. It’s the absolute best way to support our work, and we hope you join us as Happy Warriors for America.