Today, we honor the men and women who have served our country. I deeply thank you for your courage, your sacrifice, and the years you gave to something bigger than yourselves.
For my grandfather, a 20-year Navy veteran: I grow more proud of your service and sacrifice with each passing year.
And today, I also want to honor the people standing right behind our veterans.
To the military spouses: I see you.
I see you holding everything together while your partner was deployed, in training, or simply gone more than they were home. The sick kids, the broken appliances, and the hard days you handled alone. The moves across the country that meant starting over again: new schools, new jobs, new friends. The holidays and birthdays with an empty chair. The phone you kept close, just in case.
I see you checking the news, your heart stopping with every report of a crash or of service members lost, carrying the quiet, constant worry that next time it could be your own.
I see you, the moms who learned to raise your children on your own, doing the job of two parents. Showing your little ones pictures of Dad so they wouldn’t forget his face. Smiling for them while silently crying inside because you missed him too.
I see the spouses who found each other, leaning on one another, crying together, and picking each other up on the hard and uncertain days.
I see how you became strong, steady, and capable, because there wasn’t another option. And I see the quieter parts too: the moments you felt invisible, and the ways service can come home with your partner long after they return.
Your sacrifice is real, even when it isn’t the one being thanked.
So on this Veterans Day, for your service at home and all the moments no one saw: you are not alone. I honor you, I thank you, and I’m here for you.
Jamie
Learn more about support for first responder and military spouses