Veterans Day is Special

There’s no question that certain holidays have more of a cachet than others. Christmas, Easter for some, Mother’s Day, the Fourth of July, and others. But I don’t want to overlook Veteran’s Day.

Memorial Day is intended to be a reminder of those that, as Lincoln said, “gave their last full measure of devotion “in service to our country and to protect our freedoms. There’s something noble about that celebration. It gets a weekend annually. There’s an extra day off. All perfectly appropriate.

But when it comes to Veteran’s Day, the reminder of those who have served and are here to share their story, there’s not as much celebration. Like most years, this year it falls in the middle of the week. Schools will still be open. Most businesses will be open. Many governmental offices will be open. Much different than the last weekend in May annually.

This year the Hallett family will add a new wrinkle. Our Veteran’s Day will start off with an early morning flag-raising ceremony at our elementary school. My son is in Cub Scouts. One of the badges that can be achieved is a patriotic badge, and this is part of that process. But from my perspective, that’s only half of its value. I asked my dad to come. As a veteran of the Vietnam war, a remarkably highly decorated hero (he doesn’t like anyone to talk about that), and a former instructor at West Point, the United States Military Academy, he readily agreed to attend. To celebrate the day. To watch his grandson be a part of the flag-raising ceremony.

I didn’t serve in the military. My dad always said he served so that I didn’t have to. So there’s a generational gap (from my father to my son) in understanding those that serve, at least in our family. The value of this experience is being able to tell my son, and have a living breathing example, of what a veteran is. What they did. Why it’s important. And what it means to our freedoms. There’s no question that this living, breathing example is far better than just reading about it in the history books.