Veterans Day is about honoring veterans for sacrifices that mean everything in our daily lives

They are among us everyday though we don’t often notice and may seldom think about them – veterans of the US Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard. One online site puts the number of veterans in the United States today at approximately 17.6 million. That represents approximately 7% of the population.

Who are these veterans?

American veterans are men and women who served in the different branches of the U.S. military. Some of them saw combat. Some served in the rear areas supporting the front-line troops. All of them donated years of their lives based on a commitment to defend America and Americans.

Many paid a high price for their service. We see some of them around us with missing limbs, lost eyesight and other grievous injuries. Some carry their wounds silently inside. All of them have experiences that are beyond what we think of as day-to-day life.

What did they pledge to protect?

They all made the following oath when they signed up to join the military …

"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."

By defending the constitution, they defend our rights to pursue happiness as we see it. The defended our right to choose where to live, how to earn a living, how to spend our free time and what to say. In the process, they defended our right to live in a country where individual liberty means the right to start a business and be our own boss, or to quit a job and find another.

While Americans disagree about many things, the military – the veterans – have ensured that we have the right to disagree. Even if we don’t always see it this way, they have defended the concept, as Pres. Abraham Lincoln put it in his Gettysburg Address, “that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.”

Veterans Day, November 11 each year, is about honoring military veterans who have served our country. It was adopted by Congress as a resolution on June 4, 1926 calling for that date to serve as a day of observance for those who have served.

That means we are honoring the 17.6-million American veterans who quietly go about their lives among us 365 days of the year. This is the day that we acknowledge their service and sacrifices. And it helps to honor them to recognize what they have contributed to our lives. Though we are often too busy to recognize what their sacrifices have meant in our daily lives, that does not diminish the immense value of what their contributions.

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