Memorial Day is a day of reflection, but not just for those veterans who died on the battlefield.

The "war at home" is claiming the lives of soldiers left and right.Three of those men, all Lehighton area natives, were remembered for their sacrifice Monday during the town's Memorial Day service at Zion United Church of Christ."A soldier's work is never done," said Ron Rabenold, a local historian and Lehighton Area Middle School teacher, said during the service. "There will always be evil in the world. War will always be necessary. But we are not gathered here because of war. We have come here, instead, to honor and remember those who served, who sacrificed their freedom for ours."Rabenold focused his speech on two Civil War veterans, Moses Rehrig and Marcus Maier; and Spc. Michael Wargo, a U.S. Army veteran who spent 10 months in Afghanistan as a chemical weapons specialist.Rehrig served nearly the entire Civil War and returned home a walking skeleton, having endured two months in the Andersonville prisoner-of-war camp in Georgia, where thousands of Union troops died."He was one of Lehighton's favorite sons," Rabenold said. "He served on town council, he marched in parades, and he went to Sunday school. But beneath his calm veneer, roiled the horrors that haunted his memory. At the age of 71, Moses took his own life, hung himself from the rafters of his barn."Maier served in the 4th PA Cavalry. One day, 20 years past his service, he up and wandered off."Though he left a wife and son in Weissport, he wandered from old soldier home to soldier home, mostly in the South," Rabenold said. "After hearing nothing for 15 years, his wife and son received a wire from a Dayton, Ohio, soldier's home informing them Marcus had died."A 1994 Lehighton High School graduate, Wargo went off to the rugged and unforgiving mountains of the Helmand province, Afghanistan."Like Moses and Marcus, Michael suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome and didn't tell anyone," Rabenold said. "They survived the war with the guilt only a survivor could know. Michael saw ten of his war buddies killed. Like so many other survivors, Michael lost his battle here at home."Those three men, along with the thousands like them who sacrificed their lives to defend their country, are owed an immeasurable debt, Rabenold said."We should all know this freedom is not free," he said. "We have seen these leaves go to glory. It is our freedom but it is their story. We can't live by ignoring, rather we must remember this waste of warring. We lose our finest to war. A soldier's work is never done."The service drew a large crowd after being forced inside the church due to morning rain.Lehighton United Veterans Organization Cmdr. Kevin Long said he was pleased with turnout given the weather."A lot of men and women have sacrificed so we can have the freedoms we do today, and that is what today is all about," he said.Monday's service also featured remarks from Lehighton Mayor Thomas Mase and musical selections by the Lehighton band.Following the ceremony, area Scout troops and other people who had flowers placed them on the graves of veterans in Lehighton Cemetery.UVO members also gave military honors in the cemetery.From there, UVO members went to the American Legion Post 314 for a flag-raising ceremony.