You look at the red, white and blue coming down the street during a parade, and there’s a veteran of the United States Armed Forces holding it up high. Others surround him carrying the flags for the state of Wisconsin, the branches of our military, the one for our prisoners of war and more. It’s a beautiful sight to see, but we only see the surface of some incredible stories — most honorable, a few tragic, but all having a link to defending freedom and protecting us.
There are about 15.7 million veterans living in the United States, according to the U.S. Census. They make up less than 6% of the total population in the country. One in four of them served in the Persian Gulf from 1990 to the present. Almost 30% served after 9/11. Another 31.3% served during the Vietnam War.
Most of us have family members who have served in peacetime and war. My father served in Vietnam with the U.S. Army, and I have a cousin who spent many years with the U.S. Navy. Whether called upon by this country through the draft, or whether men and women volunteer to give up a few years — or sometimes a few decades — to make sure some other country doesn’t waltz in and trample on our freedom, those who serve in the military have earned our respect.
In 2005, there were 23 million veterans in the United States, so fewer people are entering the military. That makes it all the more important that we realize those who do need to be given respect. They didn’t have to give up time in their lives to protect us from harm. They didn’t have to follow orders and engage enemies foreign and domestic. They did it because it meant being part of something bigger than themselves. They did it because they realize that freedom isn’t a one-and-done deal, because if you get too complacent, some other country decides the grass is greener here and invades.
The saying goes that we, as a country, owe veterans a debt we can never repay, but that doesn’t stop us from trying. Unfortunately, there are times like it seems we aren’t trying hard enough.
The Veterans Administration has had a spotty history when it comes to helping the men and women who come home from war with scars both physical and psychological. Oftentimes, those people seeking help are told there are too many others ahead of them, and they’ll just have to wait. The United States government sends them to war zones, and then we just assume that, once they come back home, everything immediately returns to normal as though all you have to do is flip a switch.
It doesn’t work that way.
Many of our veterans return without some of the limbs they had that worked perfectly fine when they left. Many were sent into areas filled with poison, and when they came home, their bodies stopped working properly. It’s not like Hollywood movies where the soldier comes home, kisses his wife and they live happily ever after.
Some veterans return home, and because of their difficulties assimilating back into society, they soon lose their homes. Some of those homeless bums are folks who agreed to serve in the military, and they were poorly repaid. Veterans who give up a few years to serve in combat should not end up on the streets because our society hasn’t figured out how to care for these people.
Besides dying from neglect, many of our service members end up taking their own lives. In the VA’s 2026 annual report on veteran suicides, it found 6,488 veterans died this way in 2024 — almost 18 per day. The report found 62% of those suicides were from veterans not receiving VA health care at the time. Even though the veterans enrolled in VA care rose from 19.5% in 2001 to 50.1% in 2024, that means half of our freedom fighters don’t access care.
I’ve seen a number of tributes to veterans in Shawano, Bonduel, Wittenberg, Oconto Falls and other communities. Whether it’s service organizations or schools, they say some amazing things about our veterans and beam with pride as they see them stand on request when someone at a podium asks if any veterans are present.
That’s a very good start to try to repay the debt to these fine men and women, but it shouldn’t be the standard. When we see them in uniform, thanking them is only one part of what should be done. America’s finest should be able to enjoy the freedoms we do, and that includes a roof over their heads, medical care when they’re suffering and putting them into places of employment so they don’t have to worry about whether they can provide for their families
Nov. 11 is designated as Veterans Day, but as far as I’m concerned, we should be making sure every day benefits veterans. They did a lot for us, and we should never stop doing things for them.
Lee Pulaski is the city editor for the Shawano Leader and the Oconto County Times Herald. Readers can contact him at lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com.
