My office window in Washington looks out on a construction site right now. If you come visit, you’ll see mounds of dirt, huge concrete poles, scaffolding and a small army of front-loaders and cranes. Today, it looks like my grandsons’ dream backyard, and when it’s all done, it will be the city’s newest monument to a great leader: a memorial for President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

It is good and right that we honor the great men and women who devoted their lives to serving this country. But not all heroes get...