Let’s take a moment to say a prayer of thanks and healing for those who have fought to keep us safe.
Today we observe Veteran’s Day in the United States. It was first commemorated on November 11, 1919 because of an armistice, or cease-fire in World War I, occurred in the eleventh hour, on the eleventh day, in the eleventh month. World War I was known as the war to end all wars. The day was set aside to honor the soldiers who fought in that war as well as to honor the peace that had been secured.
There are other allied countries who also celebrate Armistice Day, most notably France.
Sadly, in 1939, World War II began and the Korean Conflict occurred after that. Next there was Vietnam and most recently, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. World War I was clearly not the war to end all wars. In 1954, President Eisenhower designated November 11th as Veteran’s Day, a day when all Americans of all wars, would be honored for their service to our country.
According to the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs, there were 20.4 million veterans living in the United States, as of 2016. That’s less than ten percent of the adult population. That’s a very small amount of people who have done a huge amount of work and made great personal sacrifices to guarantee our everyday freedoms and safety that we all too often take for granted.
According to the Census, in 2014, 3.8 million had a service connected disability. Another estimate of the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, is that 31% of Vietnam Veterans, 10% of Gulf War Veterans and 11% of Afghanistan Veterans suffer from PTSD. These men and women are carrying around emotional scars with them that others can’t even see, that can interfere with their jobs, relationships, health and their well being in general.
As I read all of these statistics, I feel particularly humbled at the thought that our military is strictly volunteer. We haven’t had a draft since 1973, yet these brave men and women, volunteer their lives to serve and possibly fight and die, for an ideal so precious and so much bigger than they are.
As we take this day to remember our veterans, let’s say a prayer of thanks for their service as well as for the sacrifice of their families and loved ones. But, let’s also pray for healing. For some of them, their physical service may have ended, but their emotional war continues.
We are so very blessed in this country. Let’s pray that those blessings will extend specifically to those who have fought to insure all that we have.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂