Veterans Day commemorates the service of all U.S. veterans, living and deceased. It is always on the 11th day of the 11th month because that is when major hostilities of World War I were formally ended. It was originally called Armistice Day. At the urging of major U.S. veteran organizations, it was renamed Veterans Day in 1954. We want to offer a few reflections upon this special day.
Each of us owes a debt to our veterans. Military service inevitably involves sacrifice. Death is the ultimate sacrifice, but there is much more that many of us should think of more often. Time away from husbands, wives, and children. Frequent moves that upend lives. Financial hardships. Injuries not only from combat but also from training or even the maintenance of heavy equipment.
Veterans Day could serve as a reminder to honor such sacrifices not just with words, but rather by acting to ensure our veterans receive the recognition, dignity, and support they earned when they chose to serve and even to fight for us.
This obligation sits most heavily on Congress. On one hand, Congress has the Constitutional power to declare war and it has the power to decline to fund wars it has not authorized. Knowing the sacrifice that military service requires, Congress must be vigilant in ensuring that wars of choice are never declared nor funded. But, because we sometimes must send our troops into harm’s way, Congress must also always ensure that the military has everything needed to win any war that might be thrust upon us – and everything required to offer the very best care to those service members in need.
On the other hand, Congress must never allow our service members to be treated as political pawns in our ongoing ideological and cultural contests here at home. To win wars, a military must maintain absolute trust across the ranks. Fracturing that unity along lines of race, gender, or any other issue fractures the core cohesion of our fighting force. A military divided against itself cannot stand long under the sustained pressures of war. Each of us can play an important role in this regard. It is we who elect our representatives and senators to Congress. It is we who can choose representatives and senators who will be mindful of their duties to our armed forces. And it is we who can offer each veteran we know the recognition, thanks, and dignity owed them.
