By: Dalton Kimbro
As the weather continues to cool and Christmas music begins to play in stores around the River Region, it is obvious that the holiday season is upon us. As Halloween passes and people begin to look forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas, one holiday gets left mostly forgotten; Veteran’s Day. Personally, I’ve never been perfect about the remembrance or observance of Veteran’s Day. I, like many others, have always seen Veteran’s Day as another day off, usually forgotten about until a week before when I am reminded that school and work are canceled in observance. But as I have grown, I have begun to see the importance of taking a day of remembrance. A day remembering the sacrifices made so that we can do so many things we take for granted. However, in reality, Veteran’s Day is much more than that. It’s not only about those who gave their lives fighting for our country, but for those who survived combat and came home.
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Day was made a federal holiday in 1938 as “Armistice Day,” a day to celebrate the ending of World War I and those who fought. However, after World War II led to the mobilization of the most soldiers in American history, congress changed the name to Veteran’s Day in 1954 as a means to celebrate veterans of all American wars. Unfortunately, in 2022, remembering is about all we do for our veterans. According to HuffPost, veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are facing issues that are far from resolution, such as unemployment, injury, homelessness, mental health issues and suicide. Although some of these problems are improving with technology, many issues still stand.
The American Psychological Association reports that in 2022, veterans are 1.5 times more likely to die by suicide than nonveteran adults. Simply put, something more must be done. America, even with all of its flaws, is still a blessed nation. As Americans, we have access to so many things that other countries could only dream of, and none of those things are free. Someone had to fight to defend everything from our basic human rights to our commodities, and now those that have fought are struggling. I end with a question: what can we (myself included) as college students in America do to help with these issues? This Veteran’s Day, I urge you to take time off. Relax, spend time with family and friends and enjoy the day, but also reach out to veterans you know. Learn their stories, spend time with them and seek to understand what they’re going through on a day-to-day basis. With knowledge and understanding will come the solutions so that in future generations, no veteran will suffer upon returning home.