The 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month

Like many Americans I gathered on a city street corner to honor veterans on Veteran's Day. As I watched the parade go by I reflected on one of America's heroes. General MacArthur said "It is the soldier not the reporter, who gives us freedom of the press. It is the soldier not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves the flag and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag".
One day a year there are school assemblies, people waving at the red white and blue as it passes by and the President lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. For one day the nation pauses and reflects then goes on with life as usual. American soldiers don't fight only one day out of the year so why should we only honor then only one day of the year? We all take our freedom for granted 364 days out of the year yet on one day we think we're a patriot. Our soldiers are dieing in the deserts of Iraq and in the mountains of Afghanistan every day not just on November 11th so why not honor them every day?
Veteran's Day comes and goes every year, perhaps the question we should ponder is do we none veterans really understand the price of freedom? When we see the flag do we see valor in it's red, purity and innocence in it's white, vigilance, perseverance and justice in it's blue? We probably do, at least one day out of the year!
I'll probably be back on the same corner next year on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month watching the same floats and marching bands pass by but hopefully I now have a new prespective of what Veteran's Day really means.