Today, we celebrate Veterans Day. The holiday is more than a day without mail and it is more than putting a “Support the Troops” magnet on our cars. It is a day that we go beyond symbolism and truly honor the men and women who have served us all.
Veterans Day began as Armistice Day. It was a day to remember when the fighting ended in World War I. In 1954, the legal holiday officially became Veterans Day. It is appropriate that we honor veterans on the day fighting stopped because soldiers understand how terrible war is. As one of our greatest soldiers. Dwight Eisenhower, said, “I hate was as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its stupidity.”
Iowans have a proud history of answer our nation’s call. The Congressional Medal of Honor has been awarded to an Iowan in every major conflict since the Civil War. Fifty-four Iowans have received the Medal of Honor. These include Dubuque native George Washington Healey in the Civil War and most recently, Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta. Staff Sergeant Giunta was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2010 for his heroic actions in Afghanistan in 2007. He is the first living recipient of the Medal of Honor since Vietnam.
Our list of honored veterans also includes Merle Hay, one of the first American casualties of WW I. During WW II, Iowa lost five brothers in one battle when George, Frank, Joe, Matt and Al Sullivan died when the U.S.S. Juneau was sunk in 1942. My grandfather left his home in Dubuque to fight in Europe during WWII. My father served as an MP in Germany during the Cold War and watched as the Berlin Wall was constructed. My stepfather fought in the jungles of Vietnam.
As a lawyer, I am reminded every day of the very principles our veterans protect. The constitutional rights I work to protect are in place because of the service of our veterans.
It is important for our elected representatives to remember that they were elected because people exercised their fundamental right to vote. Having elected representatives is only possible because of veterans.
As important as Veterans Day is, I also think it is important for elected representatives to honor veterans more than once a year. Veterans deserve more than a handshake and a thank you one day in November.
It is important for those with the ability to do so to make sure services and supports are in place for our veterans. These services include making sure veterans have educational and employment opportunity. Veterans need to have adequate healthcare available to them even when their service ends. Here in Iowa, our combat veterans should receive free tuition at Regents universities and community colleges. We need to continue to fund job training for our veterans.
The services available to veterans should be more available to them. Veterans should not have to fight and struggle in order to obtain services they have earned. Iowa needs more VA outreach centers and mobile outreach units.
It is not only an embarrassment, but a disservice and insult that we have homeless veterans. The Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs need to be funded fully. Our State should increase funding for the Iowa Veterans Home and its programs
I believe that these things are some of the things that we can do as a State to honor our veterans year-round. Veterans did not just serve us for a day; we as a State can honor them for more than a day.