California Veterans Deserve Our Thanks

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

In the Democratic weekly radio address Assemblymember Mary Salas, Chair of the Assembly Veterans Committee, and Assemblymember Lori Saldaña remind everyone to thank a veteran this weekend as the nation marks Veterans Day. In the radio address Assemblymembers Salas says: “Irrespective of our differences on this latest war, we in the California Assembly recognize that the needs of our veterans come first. So as the wars rage overseas, imperiling thousands of American military personnel, I encourage each of you to find at least one veteran and simply say, “Thanks.”

You may listen in English or Spanish.

Here is the transcript:

Hello, this is Assemblymember Mary Salas, chair of the Assembly Veteran’s Committee.

This Monday we celebrate Veteran’s Day.

Many schools and businesses will be closed, and for far too many of us, it will mark the beginning of the holiday shopping season.

But I hope each of you takes at least a moment of your time to reflect and recognize why we set aside this day to honor our country’s veterans.

On November 11th 89 years ago, Germany signed an armistice ending World War I.

Our nation’s leaders hoped it would be “the war to end all wars,” but that was not meant to be.

Since the end of World War I, of the 30,000,000 troops we have sent to war, over 370,000 have been killed in combat in defense of our country.

And since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began, nearly 4,000 have lost their lives.

Indeed, with over 410 Californians killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, our state lost more brave men and women than any other in the union.

So today we must remember the heroic soldiers we’ve lost.