OPINION:
Veterans Day has always been a sacred holiday for my family. My grandfather and his brother, my great-uncle, fought in World War I, which ended with the armistice with Germany in the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918.
My uncles Fred and Joel fought in World War II. Fred fought from France through the Battle of the Bulge to Berlin. He returned home only after Allied forces had liberated Europe from Nazi Germany. Joel, a fluent German speaker, was evacuated after being so seriously injured in combat that he spent a year in the hospital recovering before returning to civilian life.
None of my relatives who served in those wars ever spoke about the atrocities they witnessed. They all came home suffering from severe post-traumatic stress but without any of the medical and psychological support available to our soldiers today.
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It was clear to me even as a young child that they would never discuss their battlefield experiences.
I never met my great-uncle, who died in his early 40s as a result of the chemical warfare to which he was subjected on the front.
My grandfather died when I was only 11.
Yet I spent many years enjoying family gatherings with Uncles Fred and Joel. I revered them both for being a part of the Greatest Generation. They grew up during the Great Depression and nobly served our grateful nation. They fought to free Europe from Nazi aggression and, with their fellow selfless soldiers, bequeathed an extraordinary legacy of peace and democracy to the European continent. That legacy has become a tremendous force multiplier for U.S. national security, including our economic growth.
Today, the U.S. and the European Union share a commitment to democratic values and maintain the world’s largest bilateral trade relationship, worth more than $1 trillion annually.
At the CIA, I had the honor of serving three years alongside the U.S. military in Middle Eastern and South Asian war zones. Some of the military officers with whom I served enjoyed a good laugh over how I always said yes whenever they popped by to ask for something before I had even heard any details about what they needed.
That is because enabling our American government partners was a critical component of our CIA mission. Of course the answer was always yes; we could figure out the rest later.
Striving to enhance CIA-U.S. military interoperability overseas by more closely integrating our training and education back at home, I also served as an associate professor at the Army Command and General Staff College. Lecturing on human intelligence, I appreciated the extra time I had to reminisce with my U.S. military friends about the lessons we learned from our respective overseas deployments.
One thing we never discussed was politics. I do not know how any of my U.S. military comrades voted, and I never cared. If we had time to discuss something other than taking the fight to the enemy, protecting the homeland or carrying out the president’s national security strategy, we would share stories about our families.
If somehow we ran out of stories about our children, which was indeed rare, then we always had our favorite sports teams to discuss.
On Veterans Day, local communities across our nation honor those who served or are serving in the military. We throw parades, hold ceremonies and have special family gatherings. It is a time for all of us to remember the sacrifice, courage and legacy of our extraordinary veterans.
This year, the timing could not be better. While the partisan midterm elections are still clearly visible in our rearview mirror, Veterans Day falls just days after Election Day. We are past the rancorous political debate, and it is time to remember what should unite us as a nation.
We can thank our veterans for demonstrating that the strength of our nation lies in our citizenry, serving together with a common purpose in the most trying circumstances.
Let us do our best to honor our veterans every day by carrying their patriotic spirit with us and demanding that our elected officials do likewise — while collaborating to overcome our nation’s challenges.
• Daniel N. Hoffman is a retired clandestine services officer and former chief of station with the Central Intelligence Agency. His combined 30 years of government service included high-level overseas and domestic positions at the CIA. He has been a Fox News contributor since May 2018. He can be reached at danielhoffman@yahoo.com. All statements of fact, opinion or analysis expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official positions or endorsement of the CIA or any other U.S. government agency.
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