Veterans sacrifice a lot

The shootings in Fort Hood last week have brought a certain poignancy to this year's Veteran's Day celebration.

Across the world, no matter where they are, those who serve in the armed forces are at risk. They may fall to a crazy man or a crazed terrorist. They may die at the hands of an enemy soldier they've personally confronted on the field of battle or to an anonymous bomb planted alongside a road. They may be killed in a firefight or a simple accident loading a pallet aboard a plane. They live in a world of greater stress than most of us can imagine, and that stress is felt and shared by their families.

We often talk about the sacrifices our veterans make, but rarely think about just what those words mean. It means being gone from your families for months, sometimes years, on end. It means spending significant parts of your life in hostile environments that may literally kill you. It means knowing that no matter how much you assure your family that you're safe and doing fine, that you know that they are worried sick about you all the time until you get home again, and then they worry if you're the same person you were when you left.

After eight continuous years of war with no end in sight, no serviceman (or woman) and their families have been left untouched, unscarred. Their time at home is just a brief interlude until they are sent back into the fray.

And whether they suffer physical wounds or not, the mental wounds of stress and worry take their toll as well.

On Veteran's Day, we honor all the men and women who serve, or have served, in the defense of this nation. They execute the policies of the politicians that the rest of us elect, so the burden we place on them is shared by all of us.

And it is a terrible burden with a terrible price that is sometimes paid.

One day to pause and say "thank you" seems so little for all that we ask them to do. But it is important that we do so, that we let every person who has ever worn the uniform, know that we are proud of them, that we honor them and that we know how much they have accomplished in the face of the greatest adversity imaginable.

Those who have donned the uniform of the armed forces of the United States are the living embodiment, the flesh and blood symbols of what this nation is really about -- duty, honor, acceptance of responsibility, courage, unselfish sacrifice for others and the belief that what is accomplished today will mean a better future for all tomorrow.

They are the very best we have.

So whether you attend the special ceremonies at the cemetery today at 11 a.m. to honor them, and we urge you to do so, or you simply pause for a moment to think about them, don't let today go by without, in some way, saying "thank you" to a veteran.

-- Kelly Everitt