Comrades

Today is Veterans Day in the United States, a day set aside for honoring the men and women who serve or have served in the uniformed services in defense of the nation.

The holiday dates back to the end of the 1914-1918 war; 11 November 1918 was the day the Armistice went into effect in Europe, silencing the guns of what was called the Great War. (More than 20 years later, we realized we’d have to start numbering these conflicts and renamed it World War I.) And this year marks the centenary of the establishment of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, as the remains of an unidentified American soldier were interred at that beautiful spot overlooking the nexus of national government.

Since then, he’s been joined by comrades from World War II, Korea and Vietnam. I think we’ve improved our identification technology such that no one killed in the service of his or her country is now “unknown”. An advancement, I suppose.

The focus of today is meant to be on the living; we have Memorial Day for those who gave all, but there is crossover. There’ll be a ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown with the President, and other commemorations around the country and the world.

My company has a good percentage of veterans in it, and I like that we honor them pretty much every day. There was tremendous company and individual outreach to people after the pullout from Afghanistan in August. More recently, one of my colleagues put out a call to help resettle a former interpreter and his family, who’d been turfed out of his home and country by the Taliban, and we rallied to the cause. No flag-waving or chest-thumping; just step up and get ‘er done.

That, to me, is the epitome of honoring those who serve. And I’m here for it.