Around the globe, Americans will pause at the end of the month to pay homage to those 1.2 million heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of freedom.
Communities will rightfully look toward many of you, our departments and chapters, to demonstrate the proper ways in which to show appreciation and respect toward the fallen and their family members left behind. It is fitting we lead the salute as those who perished are our brothers and sisters.
Memorial Day is not meant to honor war; it is meant to revere those warriors who fought to the death. Perhaps, no one knows that more than those of us who fought and trained alongside those to be memorialized May 30. As a disabled veteran, you too sacrificed greatly for our country.
Not all who deserve to be remembered this solemn day spilled blood on foreign soil. Some did not even rate the Purple Heart. Many thousands continued their battle decades after their service, and many have tragically succumbed to diseases caused by exposure to Agent Orange while serving in Vietnam. They too deserve to be remembered and honored this Memorial Day.
You have fought for the victims of Agent Orange for years, so you know this as well as anybody, making it all the more fitting when community leaders seek your guidance in observing Memorial Day. Your diligence in working to get the VA to provide the benefits these veterans have deserved has pushed the government to finally acknowledge that a great deal of the terrible illnesses taking Vietnam veterans are due to Agent Orange.
They will not be forgotten, and their sacrifices will not go unnoticed as long as we as an organization keep them in mind when honoring those who gave all.
May is also Mental Illness Awareness Month. We have come a long way at a tremendous price to recognize the impact of post-traumatic stress. These disabled veterans need us to help those around us to accept the legitimacy of their invisible wounds and to offer our support when they are in a time of crisis.
May is a month for our members to come together, remembering those lost and welcoming newly disabled veterans and their families. As a nation, we can never reimburse a lost life, but we can show them that we appreciate and care.
Dear Philip,
Saluting Every Generation of Fallen Heroes!
As a supporter of Disabled American Veterans, you honor our wounded heroes.
Generation after generation, brave souls continue to give their lives for freedom — from those whose lives were cut tragically short in World War II to those in who fell in Iraq and Afghanistan.
OUR MISSION:
Since its founding more than 90 years ago, Disabled American Veterans has been dedicated to a single purpose: Building Better Lives for America's Disabled Veterans and Their Families.
Today, on Memorial Day, you and I bear witness to their courage and selfless sacrifice; we “make this day sacred.”
Yet, even as fields of white markers make our hearts swell with the sadness of loss, other sights also compel our tears on this special holiday.
Our hospitals are filled with wounded heroes — young men and women who have lost eyes, legs, arms, and mental wellbeing.
They live, Philip, but their lives are changed forever.
It is for these heroes — in honor of their fallen comrades — that the DAV Memorial Day Fund was created. They are counting on you.
Take this last chance to give to the Memorial Day Fund!
Help us charge up that hill and carry out our mission for our disabled heroes as you reach out with your Memorial Day gift of $25 … $50 … or $100 now!
Arthur H. Wilson, National Adjutant
Disabled American Veterans
P.O. Box 14301 | Cincinnati, OH 45250-0301
Please thank a disabled veteran for their sacrifice and service!
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