While we're honoring those who died in service, will we preserve the ideals they died for?

Shortly before the ribbon-cutting ceremony for an addition to the Holcim cement plant just outside of Hagerstown, I had a chance to chat with Plant Manager David Romero.

He was a plant manager for Holcim in his home nation of El Salvador before he transferred to Maryland to run the operation here. He said he'd been here for about a year, and with a little trepidation, I asked him how he liked the United States so far.

And his answers reminded me of all the things we've conversely been proud of and taken for granted here — opportunities that we sometimes forget do not exist everywhere.

He'd had some challenges speaking a different language all the time, he admitted, but he was getting better at it; that was evident both during our conversation and when he spoke to the assembled group.

But it was that promise of opportunity that he appreciated most about living in the United States.

His enthusiasm was encouraging, though I couldn't help thinking it comes at a time when a lot of Americans, including this one, are concerned about the shifts we've seen in our country and what they portend for the future.

For Memorial Day weekend last year, I wrote a piece for this space that asked whether we were honoring or betraying those who perished in defense of those freedoms and opportunities David Romero talked about.

Sadly, little has changed since then. We are divided about everything, it seems — including the most foundational ideals that forged our nation in the first place: Democracy. Freedom. All men (and women) created equal. Opportunities for everyone. The rule of law. That we choose our leaders, and those choices will be accepted.

I do not understand how we could be divided over these ideals. I don't understand any of it. But I understand clearly that our divisions have the immediate potential to destroy us.

I understand that because it nearly happened once before.

For many years I edited a history magazine that dealt with the period of the Civil War. Its articles weren't just a rehash of battles and strategies; we examined the causes, consequences and culture of that colossal divide.

We didn't set out to revise history. We went back to the original sources — letters, diaries, speeches, editorials, dispatches from the field, etc. — to let the players tell us what they were doing and why they were doing it. We let that evidence lead us to the war's realities.

Because of that, I know that when you hear historians and political scientists warn about what could be coming now, it's not hyperbole.

I see many similarities between historic and current events. I see remarks by people I've known for a long time that bewilder me. I see people ferociously adhering to narratives for which not one scintilla of actual evidence has been presented. And then acting on it.

I see people in leadership positions blatantly displaying their hypocrisies while refusing to call that hypocrisy what it is, recklessly and regularly putting partisan goals before the best interests of the country while selling their souls to stay in power.

I thought we all agreed on democracy, freedoms for everyone and civic order. But apparently we do not.

And when we consider those who, in President Lincoln's words, gave their last full measure to create and defend a free and democratic government, maybe on this Memorial Day we need to ask ourselves honestly whether we've let them all die in vain, and whether we're willing to let our government of the people, by the people, for the people perish from the earth.

That's not what I want, and I hope it's not what you want.

As the city plans more revitalization downtown, why not do some revitalizing of your own?

I want a country where issues are discussed, debated and decided on their own merits, and not on the basis of any political party strategy. I want a country where every voter bases that choice on who will be the best leader, and not just on the party to which a candidate belongs. And I want a country in which a faction in Congress can't turn our government into an oligarchy.

I want a country where the opportunity David Romero recognized will always be available for anyone who chooses to chase it.

This weekend we honor those who gave their lives to make that possible. We owe it to them to refuse to let the ideal of America go.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: On Memorial Day, honor the ideals these soldiers died for