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For more than seven decades, Americans have done on this day the least they can do in thanking those who have gathered arms to fight for their freedom and safety. Since 1954, we have taken pause on Veterans Day to show our gratitude to the men and women who have selflessly put their lives on the line for our well-being as part of the U.S. Armed Forces.
Think about that sacrifice: young men and women saying good-bye to their loved ones to travel to all corners of the earth. Many of them over the years have placed themselves in the middle of armed combat, fighting so that the horrors they saw would never reach the eyes of those loved ones and neighbors back home.
Some never came back. Others came back forever changed.
Many of those veterans continue their service to their country in many ways. They continue to serve in the reserves. They join organizations that give back to the community in various ways. They form groups that offer a comforting voice and shoulder to lean on for their brothers and sisters in military service who struggle with the scars that came from their time in combat.
Even after they gave so much in active duty to their country, those soldiers returned home and did not rest. They focused that energy into other endeavors that also strengthened their communities, made them better.
For that, everyone should be grateful, not just those who paid the ultimate price for their service, giving their lives so that others may live safe, but for those relatives, friends and neighbors who thankfully did come home and continued to make others lives better through so many means.
When you see those people today, give them a hug, shake their hand, say "thank you" for giving so much of themselves for our protection and for our freedom. According to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, much of Veterans Day's purpose is to offer our gratitude to the military veterans we see every day.
To those courageous men and women, we offer that gratitude today. Thank you for your work, your bravery and your sacrifice.
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"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same."
-- Ronald Reagan
"Honor to the soldier and sailor everywhere who bravely bears his country's cause."
-- Abraham Lincoln