In May of 2025, I was elected to be the President of the Veterans Club here at Del Webb Cane Bay in Summersville South Carolina.

Our club is focused on providing a place where veterans can meet and share stories. We also provide goods and services to the local Veterans Administration outreach programs for homeless and underserved veterans in the Low Country. It’s just another way to give back to our brothers and sisters who haven’t made it all the way home.

Today we had our annual service, and I was allowed to present a short talk about what Veterans Day means to some of us.

This was not a keynote speech since we had an honored guest, but this was what I presented:

Welcome Home

Two simple words that have such great meaning. A familiar greeting that expresses warmth, comfort, and belonging when someone returns to their place of residence or to a familiar setting after being away. It conveys a sense of relief, happiness, and the value of the individual’s presence.

The 11^th hour 11^th day 11^th Month was truly significant for the men who were fighting

They were facing another winter in the trenches, fighting and dying for yards, sometimes over the same ground.

But they were finally going to come home…

100 years ago… It was called the War to end all Wars…

(The American Legion National Commander penned an article in 1925 – this is part of what I presented today)

The Commanders Speech was a powerful recollection of the horrors of war and a sincere desire to help those who were not in the position to have experienced it understand why future wars must be prevented. The mechanization of war was too terrible to contemplate for the unexposed and his dream for peace is shared by most who went through that hell.

Too many veterans came home from the War to end all Wars broken and in need of long-term medical care. But the care was often not easily available. The comprehensive Veterans Administration of 2025 was just a dream of some back in 1925. When you look at the numbers of veterans seeking help in that day, it is astounding that so little was available. The wounds they received caused too many to have shortened lives.

But a permanent peace is hard to come by… within 16 years the world would find itself dragged into an even bigger war… and every decade up until now, wars and rumors of wars.

Our troops have not always heard those powerful words of welcome home. Instead of a warm welcome home, they were vilified. That will forever be a stain on our country.

Veterans Day is a way to remember that all wars have costs beyond the ultimate sacrifice.

The average suicide rate of veterans is still hovering around 22 a day. The broken bodies, minds and spirits of the men and women from the most recent conflicts need our help. Homelessness is still too high. The battle against being forgotten is all too real. We as a society owe them for their sacrifices. Let us all recommit to putting meaning behind the words thank you for your service. Let us all make sure that every generation can truly feel the sincerity when we say welcome home.