Veteran’s Day. Armistice Day. The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

Woodrow Wilson famously said —

“With splendid forgetfulness of mere personal concerns, we remodeled our industries, concentrated our financial resources, increased our agricultural output, and assembled a great army, so that at the last our power was a decisive factor in the victory. We were able to bring the vast resources, material and moral, of a great and free people to the assistance of our associates in Europe who had suffered and sacrificed without limit in the cause for which we fought.

Out of this victory there arose new possibilities of political freedom and economic concert. The war showed us the strength of great nations acting together for high purposes, and the victory of arms foretells the enduring conquests which can be made in peace when nations act justly and in furtherance of the common interests of men.”

Big words as usual from politicians, but its a bit more personal for us isn’t it. I’m sure it was for the men who had returned from Europe a year prior to that speech as well.

We’ve come so far since then, remember some of those men ended up marching on Washington to get paid and instead were tear-gassed and had their worldly belongings burned by Douglas MacArthur “for their service”.

Yes THAT Douglas McArthur.

In sharp contrast, today as veterans, we can get a free or discounted meal if we can prove we were worthy at one point or another of receiving it. (ID cards or DD214’s will suffice).

I get it, everyone wants to feel that they contribute, and this is a little gesture to get there, but I’d encourage you to take a little pause before you run out and hork down some hypertension at Applebee’s, (hypertension you can afford on your own, at least if you’re presently serving, we’re well-compensated these days, and as of yet we’ve not had to march on Washington to get paid).

Use that pause to reflect on our friends we’ve not heard from recently, those we never see wallpapering facebook, or at the reunions. Take a minute to drop a line to a buddy. Reach out to a fellow veteran, say “hey pal how’s it going”. Maybe they need some hypertension in their lives too but aren’t comfortable being thanked for it 200 times during a meal…alone.

We’re not all coping so well with life and the many changes it throws to a person who may have spent their formative years in a distant country, dodging rockets, mortars, and errant Sergeants Major.

For some, it’s the transition out of that life, the question of how to translate your “life and death” (or at least they all seem that way at the time) experiences into paying the bills and getting the kids to school every day can present a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. Sometimes these things don’t seem as important as what we used to do, and it’s hard to find a sense of value after doing the “most important things” for so long. A tall glass of perspective can go a long way at these times, because that depression, it’s lying to you. If we can help a friend see that, we’ve truly then done the “most important thing”.

All I’m saying is if you’re feeling good today, help another vet feel a little of that too. If you’re not feeling good, find a friend to talk to, we like nothing more than bullshitting and telling stories about the “Glory Days”, and that might be all takes to get through another week. It’s definitely better than self-medicating your way through life and being unhappy alone. At least be unhappy with someone else, misery loves company.

But if you’re able, think globally, act locally and make sure your brothers and sisters are doing ok.