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Photo Credit: U.S. Dept of Veteran Affairs
Bottom line: if someone volunteers to risk taking a bullet to protect me, I should stand up and help out.
This might date back to my mid-teens, towards the end of the Vietnam war. I saw returning vets getting treated without respect. At that time, I knew that was wrong, but couldn't articulate it.
Maybe seven years ago, I was at a lunch, sitting next to a guy from the Iraq & Afghanistan Vets of America, IAVA.org. Finally, it clicked in, that this was the right way to support regular people who gave up a lot to protect us, and that includes their families.
Now, I'm on the board of IAVA, and am involved with a lot of vets and military families groups, and the Department of Veterans Affairs (I'm their official nerd-in-residence).
What are some reasons you support vets and military families?