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Today was a special day. In 1944, my wife's cousin, Ernest Prussman, won a posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor fighting in France. The award was especially ironic for the family -- as German immigrants, my wife's father had his house shot at during WWI. Today the town dedicated a statue in Ernest's honor, located in a park on the street where both he and my wife grew up. The ceremony, including a reading of Ernest's commendation, was very moving, and statue we thought captures the right balance of heroism and realism.

I thought the best salute that I could offer was a 21 mile bike tribute. I went first to Bunker Hill in Charlestown, making a point to ride down Warren Street, named for General Joseph Warren, killed in the first major battle of the Revolution. I visited the Flag Salute on Boston Common -- 37 thousand American flags, one for each Massachusetts soldier who has died in his country's service, going back to the Revolution. I stopped at the 54th Massachusetts monument -- a testament to Col. Robert Gould Shaw and his American-American soldiers fighting for freedom in the Civil War -- brought to life by Matthew Broderick so well in the movie "Glory" (highly recommended). And -- I made it a point to ride up Murdock Street (where both Ernest and my wife grew up), before circling back to "Ernest Prussman Square" -- a "hero square" established many years ago.

I had my eye on "Heroes' Squares" during my ride -- markers commemorating fallen servicemen. I lost count at 20. "Riley" in Charlestown. "Stern" next to a synagogue in Boston. "Prussman" in Brighton. We are a nation of immigrants, from everywhere, and their sons and daughters have given their lives for our freedom. God Bless America!