Rather than celebrating Veteran’s Day, I wish we could celebrate Armistice Day or…the end of all war as we know it.

 That would be wonderful. I would much rather like to live in a world without conflict. 

The unfortunate truth is that we don’t. There can, at times, under certain circumstances be a justified need for the military, for armed conflict. So I think it is worth our while to reflect on the positive aspects of the military and that’s what Veteran’s Day, to me at least—that’s the way I see it. 

I served in Afghanistan. I’m incredibly proud of what I did, what I saw my soldiers, much more importantly, do.

The selflessness, the enthusiasm, the effort, the humanity, the compassion that they put out. It’s quite interesting that I saw all of those traits displayed in the middle of a terrible situation, which is war.

What I find myself thinking about on Veteran’s Day is just how incredible the things that I witnessed, how incredible they were and how it was a shame that it took war to bring those activities to light. 

What I mean is that I wish Americans could see this service that veterans provide outside of the context of war. 

I wish we celebrated American service here at home in peacetime the same way that we seem to celebrate the service of veterans typically highlighted by combat service.

Listen to the full show here.