Our veterans deserve the best we can give them

Published 9:44 pm Monday, November 10, 2014

By Staff Reports

 

  1. Percentage of delayed care at Texas VA medical facilities
  2. VA makes little headway in fight to shorten waits for care
  3. Lengthy wait times persist at Texas VA medical facilities

Some call it our quietest holiday. We salute a very special group of Americans today with the celebration of Veterans Day, a national observance honoring all who served their country in the military.

We don’t celebrate with cookouts and fireworks; we mark the day with a quiet, heart-felt thank you.

Even as we see Obama administration stepping up U.S. military involvement in the conflict against ISIL, we see the Iraq army losing ground to that dangerous enemy. That has understandably disturbed many Americans who fought in that region.

“Veterans of the Iraq War and their families are watching with dismay and alarm as Sunni insurgents overrun large swaths of Iraq, including cities like Mosul where hundreds of U.S. troops died,” USA Today reported a few weeks ago. “ISIL controls a significant part of both Iraq and Syria. In the past week, it has captured Iraq’s largest oil field and has come within striking distance of Baghdad. Iraqi troops and police greatly outnumber ISIL fighters, but reportedly have abandoned their posts and fled in the face of in the insurgents’ advance, leaving their U.S.-made equipment behind.”

But American sacrifices in Iraq and elsewhere were not made in vain. Iraqis must make now defend their own country. But at least they have freedoms to defend — freedoms they wouldn’t have were it not for American might.



Veterans Day began as Armistice Day, when President Woodrow Wilson set aside Nov. 11, 1919, as a commemoration of the end of the Great War (fighting ceased at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11, 1918).

After World War II called up the greatest mobilization of soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen in the nation’s history, and after American forces had fought aggression in Korea, veterans’ service organizations urged Congress to make the change to Veterans Day. The legislation was approved on June 1, 1954, and Nov. 11 became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.

But when the Uniform Holiday Bill was signed in June 1968, to ensure three-day weekends for federal employees by celebrating national holidays on Mondays, Veterans Day was included. The first Veterans Day under the new schedule was observed — with much confusion — on Oct. 25, 1971.

That was a mistake.

It became clear that to most Americans, commemoration of the particular date was a matter of historic and patriotic significance, so in 1975 a law was adopted returning the annual observance to the original date of Nov. 11.

Veterans Day continues to be observed on Nov. 11, regardless of the day of the week on which it falls. This not only preserves the historical significance of the date, but helps focus attention on the important intent of the celebration: to honor America’s veterans for their patriotism, love of country and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good.

All of America’s veterans have placed our nation’s security before their own lives, creating a debt we can never fully repay.

Our veterans deserve the best America can give them.

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