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At left, Regular Baptist Chaplaincy Director Manning Brown, Lt. Col., USAF (Ret.), and his father attend the commissioning ceremony of Brown’s son in 2015.

Every Nov. 11, our nation pauses to reflect upon and honor its own who have served in the Armed Forces. This year in particular, the day takes on special significance.

This year has become a year that no one anticipated and, I think it’s safe to say, that none of us wishes to repeat. From the pandemic to the election debacle, we have seen our nation pulled at the seams. But in the midst of it all, we must always remember that we are still “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

God continues to bless our nation with freedoms that much of the world does not have. A tool (or perhaps better said: an institution) that God uses to ensure that our freedoms remain is our military. Since the founding of the United States, it has been the men and women who have given of themselves—some giving the ultimate sacrifice—that make America the land of the free.

I come from a military family. My father was a career officer in the Air Force, I was a career officer in the Air Force, and now I have a son who is in his sixth year serving as an officer in the Air Force. We chose our careers out of a love of country and a call to duty, just as many of our fellow brothers and sisters in arms have done and will do so for as long as this country remains.

We are blessed as a people, living on the service of those who have gone before. This Veterans Day, it is right and good to remember our veterans, their families, and their sacrifice.