Honoring Those Who Served
Every year we celebrate Veterans Day by taking the time to thank those who have served our nation in uniform. There can be no greater service than to risk your own life for the benefit of others. We also express our gratitude to their families for the sacrifices they have made supporting those defending our freedom and way of life.
In addition to speaking at two Veterans Day events this year, I recently welcomed several large groups of veterans to Washington as part of Hero Flights and Honor Flights. These privately sponsored trips fly veterans to our nation’s capital to view the many monuments and memorials. For many of the participants, these trips are their first opportunity to view the memorials built in honor of them and their brothers who never returned.
It is incredibly inspiring to spend time with veterans and learn about their service. These experiences are an important reminder of the debt we owe our servicemen and women, and to ensure they are receiving the benefits they were promised and deserve.
Rural veterans specifically are often pillars of our communities, but face unique challenges in getting services and treatments. For example, Third District veterans face barriers to care such as the distance between Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities. These barriers lead to many rural veterans delaying or simply not seeking the care services they need.
As your representative, and as Co-Chair and founder of the Rural Veterans Caucus, maintaining access to care for rural veterans is among my top priorities. I am grateful the House Committee on Veterans Affairs recently held a field hearing in Hot Springs, South Dakota to discuss the potential reduction of services at this VA facility. I also appreciated the opportunity to discuss the need to address the outdated VA hospital in Omaha with Secretary of Veterans Affairs Bob McDonald. Both of these facilities are critical to many Nebraska veterans and their families.
Veterans Day 2014 is now behind us, but there are many ways to show your appreciation and support year-round. I am once again participating in the Red Cross Holiday Mail for Heroes program. Each year, the Red Cross collects and distributes holiday cards to service members, their families, and veterans at home and abroad. Third District residents may drop off cards without postage at either of my district offices located in Grand Island and Scottsbluff by Monday, December 1, 2014.
A complete list of guidelines for cards is available on my website at: https://adriansmith.house.gov/holiday-mail-heroes-program. Last year, Third District residents helped me collect more than 10,000 holiday cards for this program. I hope this year we can top this record. Afterall, our service members, our veterans, and their families deserve nothing less.