(Author’s note: The following is the text of a brief talk given by the author in conjunction with a Veterans Day ceremony)

Good morning.  On behalf of all veterans, thank you for taking the time to formally recognize Veterans Day.  Recently it seems our society has been too prone to quickly dismiss as irrelevant or unworthy the traditions our not so distant ancestors established, so I am glad to take part in a ceremony that honors those traditions. 

Speaking of history, I suppose I am what is known as a history “buff”.  I’m certain my long-suffering wife and son will attest to this fact, having been subjected to one too many documentaries about some obscure battle of the civil or revolutionary wars.  So, this opportunity to satisfy my historical sweet tooth was too tempting to pass up. Be not afraid, however, as I promise to inflict upon you only a small portion of the pain so ably endured by my family. If you will indulge me, I hope to use the following brief talk to encourage you to understand and appreciate Veterans Day in a new way.

There are two days in the United States set aside to honor military service: this day, and Memorial Day.  Memorial Day honors those who have given, as Lincoln so eloquently put it in his Gettysburg address, “the last full measure of devotion.”  As any veteran who fought in battle will tell you, the real heroes are the ones who did not come home.  Memorial Day, originally known as Decoration Day, due to the custom of placing flowers at the graves of the war dead, is intended to be a somber recognition of the supreme sacrifice undertaken by those honored dead on behalf of this country.  As Lincoln also said on that November day in Gettysburg, “It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.”   

So, what about Veterans Day?  I believe most people probably think of Veterans Day as simply a less somber version of Memorial Day; a day to express a more general “thank you for your service”.  While we veterans welcome any note of thanks and appreciation, I want to ask you today, and for all Veterans Days going forward, to remember and reflect upon this fact:  All veterans, officer and enlisted, upon signing on the dotted line to begin their service to this country, take an oath.  In that oath they pledge to “protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic…”.  Think about that.  We do not pledge to protect the president, or congress, or any one person.  We do not pledge to defend a piece of land.  We pledge to protect and defend a document, a piece of parchment.  But not just any piece of parchment. Our Constitution embodies a revolutionary set of ideas and principles that were first voiced in the Declaration: We hold these truths to be self evident. All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We have all heard these words before, but I want you today to understand their extraordinary significance. Those ideas are the true American revolution.  They are what we mean by American exceptionalism.  We are a people and a nation spoken into existence; the first nation ever able to pinpoint the exact moment of our birth.   We are a people dedicated to a set of ideals and principles about the best way to arrange human affairs and promote human flourishing.   Being human, we, from the beginning, failed to fully live up to those principles.  Yet, we have made great progress, and today we continue the great American experiment of trying to more fully realize those ideals. 

We veterans, all the men and women who have served, or are serving, in the United States armed forces, have pledged to protect and defend, with our lives if necessary, the principles first enunciated in the Declaration of Independence and subsequently codified in the Constitution.  It is not the only means to defend and preserve these ideas for future generations. But in a world full of, shall we say, “contrary perspectives”, perspectives that are sometimes expressed with guns, and bombs, and gas chambers, and airplanes flying into buildings, it is a necessary duty that we veterans are proud to have undertaken.  

So, this Veterans Day, and on each one hereafter, thank us for our service if you wish.  But, more importantly, remind yourself of what we veterans pledge to protect and defend: the Constitution of the United States. It is for the blessings that document has endowed on this nation that I implore you to reserve your deepest gratitude.