This week, as we do this time every year, we pause to remember and honor those who have served the cause of America in uniform over the years, decades and centuries. Depending on circumstances, our mental image of veterans can change. Not infrequently it is of older men to who served in conflicts that we read about in books, or learn about in movies or documentaries on the likes of the Military Channel or History Channel.
But in recent years the United States has been embroiled in a series of wars that have resulted in the profile of the American veteran markedly changing. Many vets are not old but young, shockingly so in the eyes of some. They have survived battlefields in the Middle East and Central Asia after volunteering to serve their country be it in times of peace and war.
As it happens, our newest vets are finding themselves in times that are also economically embattled. It's one thing to return from war and all its trauma to a booming economy, quite another to come back to an economy in a deep malaise, as is the case right now, on this Veteran's Day.
Our political leaders say a lot of nice and positive things about our veterans and are apt to make a lot of promises. Next year, a presidential election year, will bring its own very particular crop of nice words and promises. It is up to us, the voters, to make sure that when it comes to our veterans, those promises are not forgotten or cast aside after election day.
