Why America’s Veterans Should be Honored

By Heather Furlong
6S, Good Hope Middle School, Mechanicsburg PA

America’s veterans are a special group of people and should be honored every day.  These brave men and women risk their lives to protect us.  Some of them died serving our country.  They leave everything at home to travel far away to take care of us, often living in harsh conditions.

Giving up your own life is something most of us would not want to do, but our soldiers risk this every day.  They fight in wars to protect our freedoms.  They all go to work knowing the risks, but hoping that they will live another day.

Protecting our country is something veterans do with much pride.  This protection can come by land, sea and air.  The veterans watch over us in times of war and peace.  They also respond to natural disasters, such as hurricanes, ready and willing to help.

So many of our veterans must leave their family and friends for long periods of time, not knowing when or if they will come home.  They must rely on mail, email and the occasional phone call for contact.  They will miss out on holidays, birthdays, soccer games – all the things we take for granted.  Their children will continue to grow up and change, all the while missing their parents every day.

When veterans leave the comforts of home to go to war, they often must live in harsh conditions.  At times, they live in tents in the blazing heat or freezing cold.  In past wars, soldiers slept in holes in the ground called foxholes.

Upon their return to this country, veterans should be treated like heroes.  Some of them will have given their lives defending our country.  Others may have lost an arm or a leg.  No matter what, they will never forget the things they had to do or the things they saw.

Harsh conditions, loneliness and fear are some of the things our veterans have to deal with.  The protection of our country and our freedoms is a job they proudly do.  Honoring America’s veterans is something that should be done every day, not just one day a year.