Honor Our Veterans

Today is Veterans Day, as you should know. The kids are out of school; some of you are off from work. Eight years ago I viewed this holiday differently. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan changed that. It's no longer a product of events in our history books. I think we all know someone who has died in the wars we've been fighting this decade.

I grew up near an air force base, so a disproportionately high number of my high school classmates joined the military. Recruiters basically lived at my school and were able to convince many of my friends that choosing the armed services was a good career move. It was and still is, except those decisions were made at a time when most people chose to go into the military in order to get a good job or to pay for college. The only war we'd experienced was the Gulf War and that only lasted six months, creating the impression to my generation that any war our country would engage in would be easy. But we know now that isn't the case.

I salute the men and women who serve and have served in our military. We truly do owe our freedom to you.