Veteran's Day 2023
Our position as a global superpower hasn't come cheap. The US has spent the majority of its history in wars both large and small. Those wars come at a huge price, not only in dollars but also in lives.
While some don't make it back from war, many good men and women that do come back from serving do so with damaged bodies and broken lives. Today we recognize and help those people.
As most of you know, at AmmoSquared we don't do promotions on days like today. Instead we try to pass on resources that are helpful and informational.
Today is Veteran's Day so it is time to honor all of the men and women that have served in uniform in our armed forces.
Here are three simple things everyone should consider doing today:
1. Thank a Veteran
If you know someone that served, thank them. Let him or her know that you appreciate the personal and family sacrifices they had to make. Buy them a beer (or a just a coffee if they don't drink!).
2. Listen to Their Stories
Not every veteran wants to talk, but there are a number of resources that will allow you listen to their stories. Lately Shawn Ryan (former Navy SEAL) has been highlighting some of these stories on his podcast. Two recent episodes that I recommend are John Lovell (US Army Rangers) and Tom Satterly (US Army Delta). These are long multi-part episodes, but go into great detail about their time deployed - they are well worth the listen.
Another resource you might know about is the US Library of Congress Veteran's in History Project. Here they document literally THOUSANDS of stories from everyday soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines across decades. Currently there are 123,467 stories in the library with over 90,000 of them online! What is really cool in my opinion, is that you can filter by all sorts of criteria like: conflict/war, military branch, unit, home state, etc. I even did a search by name. Also well worth checking out.
3. Help Them Out
Even if you never served you know that many men and women come back broken physically, psychologically, and can have families in shambles or torn apart. It is sad to hear about how the government leaves them out to dry (while at the same time voting in forever health care for themselves). Luckily, there are a number of great organizations you can research and support.
Here are a few worth considering:
Veterans of Foreign Wars - this is one of the largest and probably well known Veteran organizations. I usually associate them with the WW2 vets rolling around in their period correct Jeeps during parades! They have VFW Posts in just about every city. You probably have one near you, I do, walking distance in fact!
Wounded Warrior Project - I know there was some scandal related issues with this charity back in 2016, but they have since regained public trust and now have a 4 star / 98% rating from Charity Navigator. It is hard to fight back after a public relations nightmare which is why I wanted to include them to highlight that they are good to go.
Operation Save our Soldiers - this is a charity started by Jeff Anderson from Warrior Life (I was on his podcast back in July). Jeff is a former US Army Forward Observer and is passionate about helping our troops heal from the trauma of war. This is obviously a much smaller charity than the other two, but that means any financial assistance you can provide will have a greater organizational impact.
There are three different organizations of varying size and scope you can research and give to. Of course there are many, many options out there that need your support. So take a minute today to give thanks to our amazing veterans and support them as best you can during this difficult time in our nation.