On Veterans Day We Remember

A child standing beside a veteran’s headstone might ask a simple question. “What was he like?”

If someone there knew him, the answer might be that he fixed bicycles for half the neighborhood. That he always took the long way home in October to see the leaves. That even years after leaving the service, he still called the friend he’d served with every Sunday.

Those are the details a family carries. When we tell them to a child, that child has a story to carry, too.

Here in Connecticut’s Quiet Corner, when we lay a wreath through Wreaths Across America, we pause and say the veteran’s name aloud. Sometimes it’s a name we’ve heard all our lives. Sometimes it’s one we’re saying for the first time. Either way, for that moment, we give our full attention to one person and the life they lived.

On Veterans Day, we have the chance to give that same attention to the veterans who are here with us. So today, please reach out and thank the veteran in your family, down the street, or at the next table at the coffee shop. If they feel like talking, ask what they remember about the people they served with. Then give them time to tell it. You might hear about a friendship that lasted fifty years, a kindness far from home, or something that still makes them laugh.

That’s what Remember, Honor, Teach looks like here. A name spoken aloud. A story heard over coffee. A child who goes home knowing a little more about someone who served.

To every veteran in the Quiet Corner and beyond, thank you for your service. We are grateful you’re here, and we’re honored to hear the stories you choose to share.

An older veteran and a child stand beside a headstone with an evergreen wreath and a red bow. The words “Remember Me” appear beside them.