Editorials

Remember, respect the sacrifices our veterans have made

TBO.com
Published: November 11, 2012

Humans have honored their warriors since the beginning of time. The Romans and Vikings and Spartans all were held in their people's highest regards. The same was true in every society. Nothing's changed and today we honor our warriors, regardless of the role they played in keeping our country safe.

Veterans Day gives all of us a time to reflect on those who have served our country — living and dead — and reminds us of the sacrifices made on battlefields, on the sea and air, and every other place where their contributions have allowed us to live free.

Highlands County has more than 20,000 veterans living here. They are our neighbors, coworkers, family and friends, and many are the same people we run across doing just about anything. They deserve the thanks we give them on this day. They deserve it every day, for that matter.

Some envision only those who fought on the battlefield when conjuring the word veteran, but there are so many others. It hardly matters if someone worked in the motor pool in Oklahoma, in a military office in Washington State or was behind enemy lines in Afghanistan. They all were there, serving the same purpose and just as deserving of the thanks we give today.

Veterans serve their country for numerous reasons. Some do it out of patriotism. Others did it because they were drafted. And some even do it as an adventure. It doesn't matter. What does matter is that they took time out of their lives to serve our country. They took a portion of their lives and devoted it to something higher than themselves. Some have suffered mightily for it.

We are grateful for a nation of men and women who served so well and make us proud every day. We mourn those who died and those whose lives will never be whole again. We must resolve to care for these veterans who return to our country and suffer from injuries obvious and not so obvious. It's what we can do for them.

So today we should consider what our veterans have provided us and not lose sight of the fact that some return to a world that's forever changed. They didn't count on that even if the possibility was always there.

The best we can do is honor and respect their service, and do our best to provide them what they need. And if nothing else, just say thanks.