May
26
2011

Honoring our nation’s troops & veterans

by
Matt Gallagher

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This Memorial Day we proudly join IAVA to honor our nation’s fallen soldiers. In remembrance of those who have passed, and to help those who have and continue to serve, we are highlighting special guest blog posts, online resources and are profiling several critical organizations that all provide ways you too can honor our soldiers on our Facebook page. As part of this tribute, the Case Foundation is also providing a grant to IAVA to support their work on behalf of our veterans. We hope you will join us in saluting our troops of yesterday and today by exploring these resources and sharing them with others.

For millions of our nation’s veterans, Memorial Day holds special significance. It’s more than just a long weekend full of barbecues and trips to the beach. It’s a solemn day dedicated to honoring the lives and memories of our friends and loved ones who have sacrificed all for our country. Nearly 6,000 service members have given their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan since September 11th. They, along with the over one million others who have died in previous wars, should be remembered by all Americans.

This Memorial Day, IAVA is joining forces with the Case Foundation to commemorate our fallen at Section 60, where Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are buried at Arlington National Cemetery, as well as at ceremonies around the country in cities like San Francisco, Houston, Pittsburgh and Chicago. We’re bringing thousands of Americans together to remember our fallen brothers and sisters – and we want you to join us. Click below to find IAVA veterans and supporters near your community.

Memorial Day provides an opportunity for the whole country to honor our fallen. But it’s also a time to give back in practical and meaningful ways to the men and women who served alongside them. Thousands of troops are still deployed overseas, but veteran suicide and unemployment rates have skyrocketed at home. This Memorial Day, while so many of us celebrate at barbecues, over 200,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans will be out of work.

This number is staggering but it’s scalable with your support. No veteran comes home from these wars to an unemployment check. Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan have proven time and time again that they have America’s back. This Memorial Day, show them that you have theirs.

Guest blogger Matt Gallagher is an Iraq veteran and the Senior Writing Manager for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (www.IAVA.org). IAVA is the country’s first and largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and has more than 200,000 Member Veterans and civilian supporters nationwide.

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