If anyone ever wonders why life in a small town outshines the big-city life, they need look no further than a story in last week’s Eastern Wake News.

The story told of the efforts of two men — Ronald Krueger and Dave Phillips — to keep alive the memory of local military veterans.

Stories like this tend to pop up around Memorial Day or Veterans Day — the two times each year when veterans capture our attention.

But Krueger and Phillips, veterans themselves, aren’t satisifed with twice-yearly remembrances.

On their own, the men have set out to mark the graves of veterans in Zebulon cemeteries.

Their effort isn’t part of a larger American Legion project — though both men are Legionaires.

They are simply responding to what they see as a need.

They weren’t asked to take this project on. They aren’t shilling for a local government. They aren’t being selective in which branch of service or what era they remember. And they aren’t marking the graves just to commemorate a holiday.

Phillips and Krueger, like so many of our neighbors, are not originally from eastern Wake County.

But they have taken this place as their home and they have found a way to fulfill a need.

That’s what people in small towns like Wendell, Knightdale and Zebulon do.

There’s no telling how many people volunteer their time and expertise in our communities. But few do so with the altruism that Phillips and Krueger have shown.

They likely don’t know any of the veterans whose graves they have marked over the past few months. The men aren’t asking for help from the local government or anyone else when it comes to keeping the flags maintained. They plan to keep the flags looking good.

And until they appeared before Zebulon town commissioners to seek permission to decorate graves in the town cemetery, they had not been public about their effort.

That kind of humility is what makes small-town living the kind of experience we all appreciate.

Johnny Whitfield Managing Editor