Good evening,
As we approach the close of another Veterans Day, I reflect on all of our nation's veterans, including those I served with. I thank God we continue to have an all volunteer force willing to sacrifice so much to defend our homeland. I was glad to participate in a few events today, and I hope you also had the opportunity to thank a veteran. Please take a look at my op-ed (below) as we honor all those who serve.
For God and Country,
Warren
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The Great War ended on November 11, 1918—the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Waged across multiple continents and the world’s oceans, the war led to the deaths of millions upon millions when factoring in combat casualties, genocides, and spreading of the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic.
On that same November 11, the first Armistice Day—later known as Veterans Day in the United States—an unknown soldier was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. My former Army regiment, the Old Guard, has the distinction and honor of maintaining the vigil at this sacred site. Twenty years later, in 1938, Armistice Day was designated as a national holiday in the United States.
The First World War was meant to be the “war to end all wars.” Initially expected to last a mere summer, after four years, much of the world was unrecognizable. During that four-year span, nearly an entire generation of young men died in the trenches; Russia fell to the communists; the British Empire began to decline; and the U.S. emerged as a major force in global diplomacy and finance.
At West Point, I had the unique vantage point of learning this history from professors and with classmates who were prepared to fight the next war to protect the American way of life. At the U.S. Military Academy, cadets study strategies and tactics employed successfully—and unsuccessfully—in battles and wars throughout history. Such focus is a big part of why our service academies exist: to equip leaders of character to fight and win while preserving the Army’s most precious resource—the soldiers who make victory possible. In some ways, the imperative of learning these skills masks the gravity of how the Army acquired the knowledge in the first place: by fighting, suffering losses, and persevering in trying circumstances.
As a proud veteran, I hear lots of ideas about how we should best honor those who serve in our nation’s armed forces. But I also have my own. Honor America. Our way of life made this country the world’s land of opportunity. We have been made and kept free by a long line of heroes who have fought and won to secure the blessings of liberty for themselves, for us, and for so many others around the world.
The men and women, all volunteers, who make up the U.S. armed forces are dedicated to protecting the freedoms that so many take for granted. Those in our armed forces work hard, train harder, and put everything on the line so that the rest of us can work, play, learn, and live in the safety and freedom that America enjoys.
So, on this Veteran’s Day, I encourage you to join me in thanking veterans for their service. Regardless of rank, branch of service, or deployment, every person who serves knows that by joining the military they could be called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice. Knowing this, every veteran takes the oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States with their very lives.
We should be especially grateful that we still live in a country defended entirely by volunteers, moved to protect the nation’s unique ideals. Our national motto—e pluribus unum; out of many, one—is lived out in our military. People from all walks of life and all parts of America come together for a common purpose. They bring their diverse experiences to create positive cultures that unite rather than divide. Together they forge friendship and bonds of loyalty that equip them to succeed in the most demanding circumstances. At a time when so many tear down our country, our institutions, and all manner of public service, perhaps we could learn from them? Out of many, one!
I hope that you’ll express your gratitude by thanking veterans you know. Please also consider contributing your time to organizations in your community that support those whose loved ones might be deployed overseas, or support veterans adjusting to civilian life.
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