RFI Executive Vice President Eric Patterson authored a piece published today in WORLD Magazine on Veteran’s Day. In the piece, Patterson reflects on a how “honoring our veterans means expressing gratitude.” He writes:

“We are grateful. We are thankful. We know freedom isn’t free.” So sings Steven Curtis Chapman in his tribute to America’s military veterans. On this Veteran’s Day, how can we express our gratitude, in our homes and in our communities? More importantly, why should we? 

America rightly pays tribute to those who, as Chapman sings, “heard the fight for freedom calling” and responded, “I’ll do what I can.” We have three separate military holidays: Armed Forces Day for those currently serving, Memorial Day venerating our valiant departed, and in November we honor our nation’s military veterans. Thus, on Veterans Day, it is the warriors living among us, old and young alike, who are the recipients of our esteem. 

Each of these individuals sacrificed their personal liberties to secure the peace for the rest of us. Whether or not they made it to fields of battle including Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, or Afghanistan, each and every one of them could have been sent there. They did something that only a fraction of the citizenry does—they trained and served in a vocation that easily could have demanded the ultimate sacrifice.

Read the full article: “Remembering the Price They Paid and the Freedom They Protected.”