My ancestral heritage, and indeed my family's history, is the story of America. My eighth great-grandfather, Samuel Lincoln, immigrated from England and helped form the city of Hingham, Mass. He fought in King Philip's War in 1675. Further down my family line were the three Calebs. Caleb Sr. served with the 3rd Continental Army and was at Valley Forge with George Washington. Caleb Jr. was a private assigned to the 32nd New York Infantry Regiment during the War of 1812. Caleb III served with the 67th Ohio Infantry, Company. C, during the Civil War. My father, Melvin Caleb Lincoln, was stationed on Guam in World War II with the U.S. Army Air Corps. Last, but certainly not least, I am a fourth cousin, four times removed, from the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln.

With a family history such as this, how could I not serve my country? I enlisted in the Navy in 1966 to avoid the draft because I wanted to choose which branch of the military in which to serve. I have never regretted that decision.

Howard Lincoln, Baker Merrill American Legion Post 9, Ogden, Utah