Why is Veteran's Day so important?

by Elliott Owlsey

Staff Writer

The following story was written by a student on the staff of The Jaguar Times as part of Hilliard Bradley High School’s Journalism Production course.

Veterans Day is celebrated on November 11th every year. Why is that? If you

go back to the year 1918, World War I was nearing its end as an armistice was signed in France at 11AM November 11, 1918. This didn’t mean the war was quite over, but it meant that there was going to be no more fighting on the western front. That’s when November 11 became Armistice Day. In 1954 Armistice day was renamed Veterans Day.

Now people take the time to thank veterans for their service in remembrance for what they’ve done. According to the Pew Research Center, there were about 19 million US veterans within the United States in 2021. All 19 million of those veterans did something to make this country a better place for you. Lots of those veterans willingly volunteered to work their bodies away just for you. That’s why it’s important to say thank you. Mr.Allen, a History teacher at Hilliard Bradley makes the point that many of them have sadly passed away working in the military. “The nature of Veteran's Day is so important, to respect and honor the people who have served our country, and for some of them having sacrificed their lives for our country.”

Dallas Hyslop (10) talks about how the United States would not be what it is

today without the veterans who have given their everything for this country. “Without those people fighting for our country, we literally wouldn't be here,” Dallas explained. “There’s the chance we would be controlled by another country and we wouldn’t have any freedoms. We should represent the soldiers that fight for us because they are there for us and whether you like it or not, they’re there and they are never going to go away,”

This poses the questions, do many soldiers get thanked? Given that several

students here at Bradley didn’t know that Veterans Day even happened, how does that affect the people who have served for us? Have we taken care of the people who have experienced the worst things just for us to be here peacefully sitting in classes all day?

The VA (United States Department of Veterans Affairs) is a resource that this country has provided for those people. The VA is there to provide care for the veterans of the United States. Although there have been many preventable losses that may have been preventable through the VA. Student Alex Blum voiced that the United States should have taken a lot better care of those that fought for them. “If America wants to act like we all care about veterans, we should do more as a country. Say you’ve come back from war and you’ve lost a leg, and the VA is not great at their job. And not a lot of people like it and they’re like the VA is stupid and mental health among veterans is bad,” which is true. Depression and other mental illness rates with veterans can range from 20-30% of veterans.

Veterans can always use a thank you. A thank you can really change

someone’s day. And a small change to their day is worth the massive changes they have made to our days.