Please Don’t Forget Our Veterans After Veterans Day

I had the honor, and I do mean honor, of being the Master of Ceremonies for yesterday's Veterans Day program at the Illinois Veterans Home. To hear the stories and to see the Veterans in attendance was quite remarkable.

These men and women served our country and were asked to do things that no others would do. There was even one former prisoner of war in attendance as well. Can you imagine what he had to go through? I can only imagine. I sit here writing this today on the day after Veterans Day and a day being observed as a holiday by the Federal Government. The media has done a great job of making people aware of events and activities around Veterans Day.  I am afraid, now that the day has passed for another year, people will not keep our Veterans in their thoughts as often and I guess that is somewhat normal.

Hopefully, you can find other times to thank a Veteran for his or her service to our country as the days and weeks go by.  They made sacrifices for you and I and when someone says thanks to them for serving it means a lot and makes them feel like it was all worth it. Do it before they are no longer here.

I learned yesterday that this was the first Veteran's Day in the United States without any surviving member of World War One. They are all gone.  They fought in what was supposed to be  "the war to end all wars." Unfortunately that wasn't the case.