Nearly every person can name someone they know who is serving or has served in the military, whether that is someone in their family, a friend or someone in your friend’s family. These men and women risked everything to keep you safe, no matter the cost. 

They go through brutal training to prepare for battle. They endure many hardships in war: injuries, disease and oftentimes, PTSD. They put it all on the line, without knowing truly, if they will ever return home. Some never do. 

About 620,000 Americans died in the CIvil War; 405,399 died in World War II; 116,516 died in World War I; 58,209 died in the Vietnam War; 36,516 died in the Korean War and many others perished in other wars, according to Statista.com. While these men and women are mourned, celebrated and remembered by their family, friends and comrades in arms, what do we do to remember them and honor them? 

There are memorials with their names engraved, but how often does everyone visit those? We have Veterans Day to honor, remember and pay our respects to those who served. But, we still have people today who do not respect the ones who sacrificed for us. Hundreds of thousands of people gave up their lives so that we could be where we are today, with a great, free country; good schooling and the feeling of safety when we walk out our door. And, what do we do to repay them? Kneel for the national anthem? Sit during the Pledge of Allegiance? How much more selfish can you be? The least we can do is take a little bit of time out of our day to think about and appreciate those who have sacrificed for us.

We also have people in today’s world who think that a whole month should be set aside to honor LGBTQ. Why? What did they do to deserve a whole month? Sure, they receive some ridicule and judgment, but how is that worse than what our veterans have gone through? There is no reason that people in the LGBTQ should have 30 more days set aside for them versus the one day that is set aside for the men and women that were harshly trained, shot at, bombed and even killed. The people who served in the military risked and sacrificed everything for us, and we basically spit in their face and forget about them.

So, from now on, when you hear the national anthem being played before a sports game, or hear the Pledge of Allegiance over the intercom at the beginning of school, take a moment, stand up, put your hand over your heart and at least think about and appreciate the sacrifice that so many men and women have made.