Veterans Old and New: Let's Not Forget

In the last three weeks, I have traveled out of town to Phoenix for a mediation and to our home office in Indianapolis for my law firm's Partners meeting.

On the way back from Phoenix, I was seated next to a young man with very closely cropped hair, who appeared to be traveling with two other young men. We struck up a conversation. He and his buddies had just joined the Army and were on their way to basic training. The young man's story was interesting. A Navajo, he had grown up on the reservation  in a house that did not have running water until he was about ten years old. This would have been in the past decade.

My young acquaintance decided that he wanted to make something out of his life. He told me that he and his buddies had been hanging out and going nowhere. Some had been drinking too much. He wanted to learn skills, see the world and be successful, so he joined up. The Army was honest with him: After basic training, he would go back to a base in Arizona for a short period and would then deploy to Afghanistan.

The other fellow on our row -- a guy who looked to be a few years older than me -- joined the conversation. It turns out that he was an Air Force veteran who had served in Vietnam. He is now a military contractor, assisting the Air Force with logistics. He was returning home to Florida, but had done multiple stints in Iraq and Afghanistan as a contractor. The older fellow offered words of encouragement to our young friend.

As our young friend prepared to leave the plane in Atlanta with his buddies, I thanked him for his service and wished him well. I said a silent prayer for the success and safe return of this young man and his buddies.

Yesterday, I was sitting on another plane next to a young man in an Army uniform. Although he was a young guy, the look in his eyes suggested he had a lot of experience under his belt. Unlike my young friend from the earlier flight, he was not talkative. I asked him where he was headed. He said he was on his way back to Afghanistan, having previously done tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. I thanked him for his service. He did not appear to want to talk more, and I respected that.

Veterans Day is next Thursday. On this day -- which seems to receive so little publicity -- we should certainly remember the many sacrifices our fellow citizens have made during the history of our country to preserve freedom at home and abroad. The sacrifice is not just of lives lost or physical wounds received. It is a sacrifice of families being separated and lives and ambitions put on hold.

It should also be remembered -- as my two recent acquaintances reminded me -- that the sacrifice continues. Young men and women are still serving their country, and are still being sent into harm's way, enduring separation from their families, and putting other ambitions on hold. 

On the other hand, it is also worth remembering the considerable achievements of our men and women in uniform. Without their service, the world would be a very different place, and not for the better.

It is also worth remembering that military service has proven to be a life long honorable career for some, and a springboard to success in the civilian world for others.  My acquaintance from Phoenix volunteered because he felt that military service would allow him to "be somebody," and to lead to a better life. I wish him all the success in the world.

If you see a veteran next Thursday, or if you see a man or woman in uniform, thank them for their service. It's the least we can do.