Sometimes, we just forget what’s important. On Memorial Day, when we focus on those who’ve gone before us and, especially, on those who fought on behalf of America, we get a chance to remember.

Remembering is a mission for Jim Butler, of McLouth. A story in Sunday’s Journal-World focused on Butler and his son, Jake, the first Kansas soldier killed in Iraq. Jake died on April 1, 2003, and his father is determined that the world will remember Jake.

“I’ve told my boys they may as well get used to me talking about Jake because I’m going to talk about him every day until I die,” Jim said. “We’re not going to forget him.”

None of us should forget. We shouldn’t forget Jake or the thousands of other men and women who have died in the service of our country. We shouldn’t forget their sacrifice and we shouldn’t forget the principles for which they gave their lives.

They were just like us – average people with no taste for violence or death. Going to war wasn’t a choice; it was a duty. They went to war so someone else wouldn’t have to or because they believed in the need to fight for something more important than their own lives. They were incredibly brave, but without bravado.

In America, the end of World War I is celebrated on Nov. 11, Armistice Day. In Europe, Nov. 11 is known as Remembrance Day and is a broader commemoration dedicated to all members of the armed forces killed during war.

Like our Memorial Day, it’s a day to remember and appreciate the sacrifice of those who fought for their homeland and their freedom. We should honor the memory of all members of the U.S. military by remembering the obligation we have to preserve our ideals and value the democratic nation they fought and died for.

The profiles in Sunday’s Journal-World of Kansans who have died in the Iraqi conflict weren’t easy to read. Sometimes it’s painful to remember, but, like those fallen soldiers, we have a duty.

We must never forget.