History lesson for Dunhaven today.
We've been celebrating this day for 98 years now. The first Veterans Day, in 1919, was actually Armistice Day, signed into existence by Woodrow Wilson on the anniversary of the signing of the World War I armistice agreement. World War I was the war to end all wars and Armistice Day was meant to celebrate world peace.
Well, that didn't fucking work.
So in 1954, Eisenhower signed a bill changing the name to Veterans Day to be more inclusive since we'd managed to have both World War II and the Korean War in that span of time. Many other countries observe the day as well in some form, still called Armistice Day or Remembrance Day.
As a kid growing up, there were a lot of celebrations for this day. I remember a lot of barbecues, red poppies in lapels, sales at stores or places being closed, Mom shopping for red, white, and blue outfits for all of us, and hearing stories about war or seeing movies and documentaries on TV. There was nothing more glorious or glamorous to my boyhood self. By eight years old, if not earlier, I knew what I was going to do with my life and I dedicated every day to becoming worthy of joining the ranks of those heroes.
Now I know that the military, while glorious, is not glamorous, and war is neither of those things. My body and mind are etched with scars. I've lost men I knew as well as, or even better than, my own brothers, too many of them lost due to my own orders. I was the only survivor from my vehicle in the explosion that took my leg. There are too many men and women that should be here today to be honored in person, but we won't get to do that ever again. Instead, I must do my best to honor their memories.
But I feel it's important to state here how little I regret. I don't regret my eight-year-old self's decision. I don't regret JROTC or West Point or OCS or my eighteen years as an active duty soldier. Because we did
not achieve world peace. We did
not end all wars.
"We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm."
I can't stand ready anymore, but I stood for eighteen years and would have until the day I died. I lost my leg so that no one else had to, just as my brothers in arms lost their lives so no one else had to. I don't pray much, but I
do pray that a day will finally come that the original purpose of this day, honoring world peace, arrives. Until then, we stand ready.
And I need a drink. 
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