For the second time in as many years, the Mount Airy community has been touched by the loss of one of its sons in military service as Memorial Day approached.

Twenty-eight-year-old Leevi Khole Barnard was killed Thursday while on a mission in southern Baghdad. Barnard was from Ararat, Va., but he might as well have claimed Mount Airy and Surry County as home. He worked at Becky’s Glassworks, owned by his grandmother, and spent much of his time attending church in Surry County, working and playing here. His two best friends are from this county.

His death follows by about 13 months that of Adam Marion, a Dobson-area man who was killed in Iraq.

Today, of course, is Memorial Day. Serving as the unofficial start of the summer season, this is often simply thought of as a day off from work, a time for cook-outs and family games.

For those who knew Barnard, it is now a time of mourning. For all of us this should be a time of remembrance, of paying tribute to those who have fallen in military service to America.

When men like Marion and Barnard joined the armed forces, when they volunteered to put themselves in harm’s way, they did so in order to continue a long tradition of military service so the rest of us can enjoy those cook-outs and family times and live safe, happy lives.

While there is little we can do to ease the pain of relatives and friends of these two fallen heroes, we do offer our gratitude for their service, and our sadness for their loss.