Americans should treat Veterans Day as more than a holiday of parades and posts. It is a moment to renew the promise we made to the men and women who raised their right hand and for the country to ask what it owes them in return.
That starts with healthcare. Veterans deserve timely access to VA healthcare, fast and accurate decisions on disability claims, and mental health resources that actually reach the people who need them. The stakes are not abstract. The Department of Veterans Affairs’s latest annual report found 6,488 veteran suicides in 2024, an average of 17.7 every single day. And 62% of those veterans were not receiving VA care in the year they died or the year before. Every leader who claims to honor veterans should be able to explain how they will close that gap and how they will support the military families and caregivers who carry so much of this weight at home.
We also bring something to the national conversation that most people cannot. We understand what deployments, readiness decisions, and armed conflicts actually cost, because we paid those costs ourselves. I have seen what happens when a mission lacks clearly articulated objectives and strong leadership. When we evaluate those who make decisions about our military, we should look past the slogans to the record. What have they supported? What legislation have they sponsored? What have they funded? Leaders who seek to understand the realities of service make better decisions about when and how we send Americans into harm’s way. Veterans Day is a reminder to make sure that experience shapes policy instead of staying abstract.
Accountability matters just as much after service ends. The transition home depends on education benefits, job training, affordable housing, and small-business opportunities that work as promised. Too often, promises about these priorities sound great at a Veterans Day ceremony, but disappear by spring. We should compare what officials say against what they deliver, and recognize the leaders who produce measurable results over the ones who only produce rhetoric.
Results are possible and, in fact, are being realized under this administration. In July, the VA announced that its disability claims backlog had fallen below 70,000 for the first time since February 2020, a drop of more than 74% since January 2025. Claims that sat for months are now decided far faster. That did not happen by accident. It happened because leadership treated the backlog as a mission and not a talking point. That is exactly the kind of competence worth celebrating and the standard every part of the system should be held to.
Many of us served across multiple administrations and political cycles. We know that the needs of veterans do not reset every two years, and neither should the commitments made to us. Our country should reward continuity and competence in the agencies that serve us, and push back on chronic underfunding, bureaucratic delays, and policies that quietly chip away at benefits we earned. A promise made to someone who raised their right hand is not a slogan. It is a durable obligation, and we should honor it every day, not just on one.
THE VA ALREADY SOLVED PART OF RURAL AMERICA’S HEALTH CRISIS
Honoring veterans does not require a grand gesture. Thank a veteran, and then ask what they need. Support the family members and caregivers who sacrificed alongside us. Hire veterans, patronize veteran-owned businesses, and volunteer with organizations that help those struggling with the transition home. Reach out to a fellow veteran who may be having a hard time, because a single call can save a life.
Most importantly, stay engaged. Through all the town halls, letters, and phone calls, there is still no better way to make sure veterans’ voices are heard than to keep showing up. We did not stop serving when we took off the uniform. This Veterans Day, let’s make sure our country keeps its promise to those who kept theirs.
Amber Smith is a senior adviser for America First Warfighters at the America First Policy Institute. She is a former Army Kiowa Warrior helicopter pilot who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, a former deputy assistant to the secretary of defense for outreach, and the author of Danger Close and Unfit to Fight.