Just eight days before the Nov. 11,
1918 Armistice ending World War I, my great uncle, Ira Pitzer, was
killed during battle in France. His mother was overcome with grief for
the rest of her life, a tragedy shared by so many families who have
served in the military.
Veterans Day is to honor the service and
sacrifice of the men and women in the armed forces. But Veterans Day
also should mean something more, an inspiration to win a lasting peace.
As President Dwight Eisenhower once proclaimed on
Veterans Day: “Let us reconsecrate ourselves to the task of promoting an
enduring peace so that their efforts shall not have been in vain.”
See my full commentary in the Des Moines Register:
