Honor our Veterans and Support the Troops

National Veterans Day Ceremony

The Veterans Day National Ceremony is held each year on November 11th at Arlington National Cemetery . The ceremony commences precisely at 11:00 a.m. with a wreath laying at the Tomb of the Unknowns and continues inside the Memorial Amphitheater with a parade of colors by veterans’ organizations and remarks from dignitaries. The ceremony is intended to honor and thank all who served in the United States Armed Forces.

Why is Veterans Day held on the 11th of November at 11 am? Read about it’s history here.

Make a commitment today to help a US Army Soldier serving over seas from Fort Stewart GA, sign up here. Hat Tip to our friend Josh Lanier for this. As many of you may recall, Josh is a US Army Veteran, his active service was in Vietnam.

Local events are listed here.

While much of the focus is rightfully on the Veterans, you might take a moment to also consider the burdens on the rest of the family, it’s a little cheesy but here are a 101 ways to thank a military veterans spouse/partner & family.

No one is doing more than the First Lady and Dr. Jill Biden on this issue, here are the links to their efforts.

I’m proud of my own families service to this nation,  grandfather Walter E. Goering Captain US Navy;  father Robert A Billies, US Army WW2 active duty in the Pacific and my brother Lieutenant Commander Eric A. Billies US Navy (retired) they served this nation with distinction and honor.

[UPDATE-he sent this earlier and I’m just now getting it posted] From one of our favorite Veterans now serving in the Georgia State House Rep Scott Holcomb of the 82nd district.

As we celebrate Veterans Day, I wanted to take a moment to share with you what this day means to me.  I’m proud to come from a family of veterans, and I was born while my Dad was in Vietnam.  When I think about veterans, he’s the first to come to mind.  He loves America, served her well, and encouraged me to do the same.  In early 2003, I was in Kuwait on my third deployment waiting for the war with Iraq to begin.  My Dad, who is naturally reserved and quiet, sent me an email. In it he wrote, “Look out for your fellow soldiers and do the right thing, and everything will be ok”.  Then he added, “If I could have one wish, it would be to trade places with you.”  I know those words spring from the heart of a father, but they also spring from the heart of a veteran.  The most incredible thing about veterans is that they are willing to put themselves up for you and me every single day.  And that’s why it’s so important to honor them.  To those who served, happy Veterans Day, and thank you.  America is better because of you.

I learned many important lessons during my years of service, and I’d like to share two of those lessons with you.  The first lesson is that we all need to do our part, but we’re all in this together.  Soldiers who serve in combat understand this, and I wish that we, as Americans, could better understand this too, because it’s true.  We need to remember that, regardless of who we are, where we come from or who we vote for, regardless of all the issues that we allow to divide us, we need each other.  We’re all in this together, and we need to commit to working together to fulfill America’s promise.

The second lesson is more sobering, and it is that tomorrow isn’t promised.  Soldiers understand this on a visceral level, and we mourn those for whom tomorrow was not promised.  We should keep this lesson in mind when we think about America.  Our today was made possible because those who came before us promised to leave us something better – and they did.  We honor them, and all America’s veterans by making the same promise ourselves.  There is no better way to thank our veterans than to let their lives inspire us to make our country strong and free.

Very best,

Scott