Littleton ceremony remembers sacrifice

I'm a middle-aged man, meaning my DNA requires an obsession with history and family research.

The big picture: Monday is Memorial Day.

🇺🇸 One of my coolest ancestors is my seven-times great-grandfather Nathaniel "Nathan" Brittain.

• He enlisted as an Army private in the 8th Virginia Regiment in March 1776 — about 11 months after the American Revolution began.

Zoom in: Nathaniel was sent to South Carolina, then to Georgia's stifling swamps where he watched compatriots get sick and die.

• He died too, in October 1776. He was 41 or 42 and had seven children.
• An Army historian told me dysentery likely was his cause of death.

🇺🇸 I put my flag out every morning and briefly think about Nathaniel's sacrifice — grateful his story is part of mine.

What to watch: There's a light Memorial Day schedule in Arapahoe County.

• Aurora's Colorado Remembers event begins Saturday at 8am.

My suggestion: Littleton's 10am event Monday at the World War II Memorial in Ketring Park.

• The El Jebel pipe band will perform.
• Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion members will speak and there's an open mic to acknowledge veterans.

Worthy of your time: Every Memorial Day and Veterans Day ceremony in Littleton includes a reading of "My Plea," a poem by Pat Hannon, a 20-year-old Marine and the city's first Vietnam death.