Cmdr. Geer’s Veterans Day 2012 Message

As a nation, we have pros­pered because we have always had cit­i­zens will­ing to rise to answer the call to serve in hours of need. The mil­lions who have worn the mil­i­tary uni­form have expressed our national resolve. Today, we honor our vet­er­ans, past and present, for their unyield­ing sac­ri­fice and ded­i­ca­tion to our great nation.

As many of you know, Vet­er­ans Day was first observed in 1919 to com­mem­o­rate the Armistice Agree­ment end­ing World War I—the sup­posed “war to end all wars.”  Pres­i­dent Dwight D. Eisen­hower broad­ened its mean­ing in 1954 when he offi­cially renamed it Vet­er­ans Day, to rec­og­nize all those who had served.

This year, Vet­er­ans Day falls amid national chal­lenges that are unlike any oth­ers in our his­tory.  The War on Ter­ror­ism is a long-term strug­gle that has sent our troops to every cor­ner of the world.  To say the least, the obsta­cles have been try­ing and the dan­gers have been real.

But progress is being made.

Recently, we’ve seen our ser­vice­men and women make huge strides in the name of free­dom. They’ve not only made our own coun­try more secure, but they con­tinue to bring the fight to our ene­mies in Iraq and Afghanistan. Though sig­nif­i­cant chal­lenges lie ahead before sta­bil­ity returns to these areas, the brave men and women serv­ing in our mil­i­tary are pre­pared to do the job.

The same ded­i­ca­tion we wit­ness in today’s endeav­ors has pre­served Amer­ica in the tough­est of times through­out its his­tory.  Whether in peace or at war, the impor­tant role of our vet­er­ans can­not be denied.  They are men and women from all walks of life, but they share one thing in common—a love for this great country.

In return for their many sac­ri­fices, these brave indi­vid­u­als ask very lit­tle.  And thus, it falls to an indebted nation to meet their self­less­ness with thankfulness.

In the com­ing year, AMVETS must recom­mit itself to hon­or­ing the sac­ri­fices of our vet­er­ans. We must mobi­lize our mem­ber­ship to get out and serve those who have served: from vol­un­teer­ing to serve in our VA and mil­i­tary hos­pi­tals, to work­ing with the citizen-soldiers of the National Guard in our own com­mu­ni­ties. We all must make a con­certed effort to ensure the actions of all vet­er­ans are appro­pri­ately remem­bered and appreciated.

It is time we—as a nation—take the proper steps to renew our com­mit­ment to those who served our nation. We must ensure that VA has the proper resources to do its job. We must not tol­er­ate hear­ing of vet­er­ans wait­ing years to receive their ben­e­fits or being turned away in their hour of need. Progress must be made and AMVETS con­tin­ues to work with VA and Con­gress to ensure that vet­er­ans remain a pri­or­ity in this coun­try. Through leg­is­la­tion and by sup­port­ing new ini­tia­tives, AMVETS will ensure the voices of vet­er­ans are heard and that appro­pri­ate action is taken to solve the prob­lems that hin­der vet­er­ans from receiv­ing care and benefits.

For no mat­ter where or when our vet­er­ans have served, they’ve always served with dis­tinc­tion.  Ser­vice to coun­try is a bridge over which more than 38 mil­lion Amer­i­cans have passed dur­ing wartime alone.  It was built on courage, ded­i­ca­tion and patriotism—keystones in our Amer­i­can way of life.

So on this Vet­er­ans Day, there is much to com­mem­o­rate, and much to be thank­ful for.  It is true—America is strong and free.  But we would never have come this far with­out the heroes we call veterans.

Today we have the priv­i­lege of hon­or­ing this very spe­cial group of Amer­i­cans, whose ser­vice spans every decade of our country’s exis­tence.  We owe them a great deal.  First and fore­most, we owe them for our free­dom. And today, espe­cially, we owe them our grat­i­tude.  Thank you—and God bless America.