Carlos Uresti
Senate District 19

I keep a list of the men and women from my district who have died during our nation’s current wars. To date there are 49. Each day I take a moment to remember their lives and their service, and the losses their families have endured.

Veterans Day is a special opportunity for all of us to join together in remembrance of the brave men and women who have served the United States of America.

Despite the many sacrifices required of them, 1 million men and women are in uniform today. Each year, thousands more take a place beside them.

These men and women embody the spirit of our great nation, and a core belief that we live to serve more than ourselves.

This tradition of sacrifice to our nation has been with us since its birth:

During the Revolutionary War, more than 6,800 soldiers gave their lives to establish the foundation for the liberties we enjoy today.

During the Civil War that ripped this country apart, nearly 500,000 died before our nation was painfully restored.

World War I claimed more than 116,000 Americans, fighting on the foreign soils of Europe so that others could be free.

Not long after the “War to End All Wars,” World War II engulfed the globe — and the lives of more than 400,000 service men and women.

The Korean War nearly took 55,000 of our finest.

The Vietnam War: nearly 60,000.

Desert Storm claimed 293 lives.

And the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have brought an end to the lives of more than 3,800 members of our armed forces.

Whether the conflict occurred more than 200 years ago in New York, or yesterday in Baghdad, Veterans Day remembers the individual lives and deaths behind these numbers.

We do not use Veterans Day to debate current or past wars. Rather we use it to commemorate sacrifice: the greatest act a human being can commit.

Whatever you believe about the righteousness of any war, Veterans Day recognizes those who fought and died for us. It recognizes those who serve without the luxury of allowing opinions to obscure duty.

This Veterans Day, I ask you to remember all those, living or dead, who have worn our nation’s uniforms.

They are our sons and daughters, our husbands and wives, our fathers and mothers, and our brothers and sisters. They are our heroes.