Letters to the Editor
A time for coming together

On Veterans Day in communities across the country, Americans come together to recognize and honor those who have served in the United States Armed Forces.

We honor and celebrate the achievements of 24 million living Americans who have served their country in uniform… at home and abroad… in war and peace.

Like the 48 million Americans who have served liberty's cause throughout our nation's history, today's military men and women serve tirelessly, helping carry freedom and self-government to those people striving to enjoy these blessings of liberty.

As an employee of the Department of Veterans Affairs, I am privileged to serve these ordinary citizens who have given extraordinary service to our nation. At VA, every veteran is our focus - from three World War One veterans still with us; to our World War II and Korean War veterans reaching their twilight years; to our Vietnam veterans entering retirement age; and our younger Gulf War veterans and those returning from the global war on terror. VA is committed to providing excellence in patient care, veterans' benefits and memorial services to all veterans - to the sons and daughters of every generation who answered their nation's call to service.

Today, at VA, the veterans and fighting men and women of Southwest Asia are Priority One. From the research lab to hospital bedside… from rehabilitation and compensation to education and life insurance… and from home ownership to homeless intervention… these veterans, like those before them, have earned many benefits and services we at VA stand ready to provide. They not only deserve those benefits, they deserve them as free of delay and red tape as possible. Most of all, they deserve our compassion and respect, and that's my goal and the goal of 244,000 VA employees working for veterans from Puerto Rico to Guam and every state in between.

The way you live, the communities you live in, the schools your children attend, the books you read and the way you worship are products of the service of 44 million Americans just like you who stood between our way of life and those who would challenge and destroy it through violence and oppression. Ordinary citizens? Yes… but more than that; these are our best citizens. At VA we recognize them today and every day.

On this Veterans Day 2007, as we pause to thank our veterans for their service and let them know that their sacrifices will never be taken for granted, we renew the covenant between America and the men and women who protect and defend her.

We do this because we recognize a basic truth. It is, in large part, the deeds of the American Veteran that bind us to our noble past… strengthen us in difficult times… and inspire us to meet the future challenges we face as a nation.

DAVID J. WEST VA Medical Center Director Bath