Why did the veterans in your SC community join the military? Ask them

We Serve

The dictionary definition of serve is “to perform duties or services for another person or organization.”

On Veterans Day, we pause to honor and reflect on the service members of our military who have served and continue to serve in the defense of our country.

Many veterans were drafted while others volunteered to join the military.

Regardless of how we entered the service, all veterans and their families make sacrifices for their country.

Long deployments, missed birthdays, holidays, and anniversaries are a few of the sacrifices veterans and their families have made.

There are several reasons why today’s men and women join the military.

Some join to travel, others to get in shape, earn education benefits, follow a family tradition, or to gain experience for a civilian career.

However, most who join the military say the number one reason to join is to serve their country.

Most, if not, all veterans will say that once you have served and been part of something that is bigger than yourself, you will have a sense of pride and accomplishment that is hard to duplicate.

My decision to join the Army was influenced by my father who was drafted during the Vietnam War and retired after 21 years.

I wanted to honor my father and give back to my country.

As we shift our focus to remembering our veterans on Nov. 11, it is important to remember that each veteran, during war and peace, served in defense of our ideas and way of life.

Today, many South Carolinians will take part in parades, ceremonies, and even some physical fitness challenges, all designed to highlight our veterans and what they have done for us.

While we enjoy the day and celebrate it as we should, another way to help remember our veterans is to have a conversation with one.

As we go out to the many activities around our great city and state, take the time to talk with a veteran and learn his or her story.

Ask them about their time in the service and what their best memories are.

Learn where they are from, find out about their family and ask them why they served.

Talk with their family members and let them know that they are not forgotten.

And don’t forget, It is important that we remember our veterans and their families not just on Veterans Day, but every day.

Dan Wrightsman, a U.S. Army veteran who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, is the Midlands Regional Integration Officer for the South Carolina Department of Veterans’ Affairs.