Recognizing a nation’s debt to those who served it well

Recognizing a nation’s debt to those who served it well

There is only one living American left to celebrate Armistice Day, the national holiday that was established to mark the end of the Great War on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. That man is Frank Buckles, who joined the Army at the age of 16 and served in France during World War I. Now 108, Buckles lives in Charles Town, W.Va., the only surviving veteran of a war that ended 91 years ago on this date.

As Buckles’ comrades were falling to the peacetime ravages of age and illness, it became apparent that the veterans of other wars, past present and future, deserved recognition. And so this holiday shed its Armistice connection and became Veterans Day in 1954.

Many were called

Today we honor, of course, Buckles, and an estimated 17.5 million other living wartime veterans, as well at 1.5 million active duty members of the U.S. armed forces and 850,000 reservists.

Though their numbers are large, they represent an elite minority of American men and women, not quite 7 percent of the nation’s population.

On this day it is appropriate that the other 93 percent of Americans recognize the debt we owe those who served so that the rest of us may live under the freedoms envisioned for us by this nation’s founders.

Inevitably, and especially during days of war, tribute is also paid to fallen soldiers. But those who made the ultimate sacrifice receive fitting tribute on Memorial Day, and there is something to be said for maintaining the special purpose of this day, which is to honor all veterans.

It is a day to thank a veteran for his or her service. It should also be a day for Americans to dedicate themselves to the proposition that every veteran should receive the attention and care he or she made need.

A measure of the nation

Retired Gen. Eric K. Shinseki, now serving as secretary of the Veterans Affairs, notes that our character as a nation is revealed by the honors given our veterans and by the respect with which we care for them. And by those measures, we could do better.

Shinseki notes that far too many veterans are victims of joblessness, homelessness, depression, substance abuse and suicide. And troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan have invisible wounds, which if undiagnosed and untreated can become as debilitating as any major physical trauma sustained on the battlefields.

Congress and the administration must join together to assure that every veteran — from 108-year-old Frank Buckles to the Vietnam-era veteran in his 60s to the 20-year-old man or woman returning from a first tour in Iraq or Afghanistan — gets not only the respect and gratitude they’ve earned, but whatever treatment and support they may need.

Anything less would make Veterans Day a hollow gesture, and no one wants that.