Traditionally speaking, we look to Veteran's Day every year as aday to salute the fine men and women who represent our country inpositions the rest of us really don't have the guts to do.
We also think of these people in the past tense.
It is a day many of us stop to think of our elders and thebattles they fought to protect our freedom. Grandparents,relatives, parents and similar adults come to mind when we think ofVeteran's Day each year.
But, we fail ourselves by limiting our thoughts to just thisspecific older group of citizens.
Fact of the matter is, in 2004, the spectrum of veterans issignificantly larger.
No longer are we limited to those who came before us, but wealso can salute those who have come along with us.
At any given point in the week, look around your classroom, yourdining hall or your apartment complex, and you very well could bein the company of a combat veteran.
They have returned to civilian life; some for good, others foran immeasurable amount of time. These men and women are in the sameposition as the rest of us: they have classes to take, personallives to manage and all of the other college life responsibilitiesthat we are all far too familiar with.
On top of that, they've fulfilled a part or full-time commitmentto our nation's military. Which may be more than any of us cansay.
For that, and so much more, they deserve our salute on thisday.
Yet before we conclude, we must not forget another importantgroup of veterans. Those who COULD be sitting in class, your dininghall or your apartment complex right next to you. Brave men andwomen who, normally, would be reading this paper right along withyou. Soldiers that would ordinarily be walking among us.
But they are not.
Because they are the veterans who have yet to return home.
And for them, Veteran's Day cannot come soon enough.
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