Honor Our Veterans’ Service With Service

Iowa currently has more than 216,000 military service members and families across the state, and there are countless others here who have served in the past. Add to these the thousands of people whose spouses or children have served or are serving and still we cannot begin to understand how the service and sacrifices of these individuals affects our country, our state, our communities, ourselves. But we know it does.

We know there are veterans who have become the teachers, business people, artists, politicians, activists, and entrepreneurs that help make Iowa the great state it is today. We also know there are veterans who are homeless or in need of assistance. We know there are children in your neighborhood, in your child’s school, or who have only one parent at home because the other is deployed. We know there are families who are proud of the valuable service of their loved ones, yet equally sad they cannot be together. And we know there are servicemen and women deployed throughout the world who miss this place they call home.

It might be easy to be against a war, but difficult to be against those who hear the call of duty and respond as they see appropriate. They care. They want to make a difference. They see a need and they take action. Maybe it’s not the action we’d take, that doesn’t matter. What matters is that we show them the honor and respect they deserve.

How? We need to take action ourselves. We can honor their service with our service through a variety of organizations such as the Disabled American Veterans; the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs which assists veterans and active service members and their families in building a better future; the Sierra Club's Military Families and Veterans Initiative; and Welcome Back Veterans, an organization committed to supporting our returning heroes.

We can also honor our veterans by encouraging them to participate in the community. The transition from military to civilian life is critical to veterans’ long-term welfare. While health care and employment are key, community participation also plays a large role in a successful transition.

According to a recent report about the civic lives of our nation's returning veterans, All Volunteer Force, nine out of ten veterans agreed that Americans could learn something from the example of service of veterans, but only half consider themselves leaders in their communities as a result of their military service. The same report noted that seven out of ten veterans who had not yet volunteered said it was because they had not be asked and/or do not have enough information on meaningful service opportunities.

“Recognize our usefulness. We are not charity cases. We are an American asset,” said a veteran from Iraq and Afghanistan. Honor our veterans' service through service and also encourage veterans to add their valuable contributions to the community.

This material has been published by Oregon Commission for Voluntary Action & Service.