AWOL...

I was AWOL yesterday. I had intended to submit a blog post yesterday, but got so wrapped up in Veterans' Day that I never got around to it. Thus, I am submitting the speech I wrote for the occasion. But, before I do, HOOAH to all AR members who are veterans and their families. The following picture is of my father, a United States Marine. He served in the South Pacific and China

Good morning. Fellow veterans, families, friends —

Today we gather to honor a truth that binds us all: service changes lives. Memorial Day and Veterans Day are distinct, but both ask the same of us — to remember, to thank, and to carry forward what our service members gave for this nation.

To the families who carried the weight while their loved ones served: your sacrifice is the quiet backbone of our freedom. You bore long nights, missed birthdays, and anxious waiting so others might live without fear. Your courage is every bit as real as any battlefield valor.

To those who served and returned: we carry memories the public may never see. We carry pride, grief, and sometimes a complicated mixture of relief and sorrow. Surviving does not lessen our debt to those who did not come home; it deepens it. We live on because they did not have that chance. Our lives must honor theirs by living with purpose, by caring for each other, and by speaking their names so they are not lost to time.

To those currently serving: your dedication keeps the promise of this nation. You step forward so others may choose their path without coercion. That service deserves our constant gratitude, our advocacy for fair treatment, and our commitment to bring you home with the care you need.

Why honor them? Because memory is moral work. Remembering preserves the meaning of sacrifice and prevents it from becoming a hollow phrase. Honoring helps heal families, affirms that service matters, and binds communities together across generations. It is how a free people repay a debt that cannot be counted in dollars or medals.

What should we do today and every day? Listen to veterans’ stories. Support their families. Advocate for healthcare, job opportunities, and mental-health resources for those who served. Teach younger generations why service matters. Place flowers and flags with reverence, not ritual. Let our gratitude be active — organizing, volunteering, voting — so promises made to veterans are promises kept.

In closing, let us hold their names in our mouths and their faces in our hearts. Let us be worthy of the freedom their service made possible. And let us pledge to care for one another — for those who serve now, for those who served, and for the families who stood in the gap.

Thank you, and may we always honor their service with deeds as well as words.