Veterans Day - Armistice Day

Today in the United States, we celebrate Veterans Day. A day to recognize the contributions of those who serve and have served in the US armed forces. Flags fly at half-staff, somber parades are conducted, and taps is sounded across Veterans' cemeteries nationwide. We are a country, young as we are, that understands war and the losses it always involves.

It is for that reason on this day of remembrance, that I direct your attention to the cautionary and prescient remarks of former five-star general and US president Dwight Eisenhower in his farewell address from the White House. A quick reminder that it was Eisenhower who won the second world war and was the most admired man in America at the time. As he left the office of the presidency, he said:

“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists, and will persist.  We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals so that security and liberty may prosper together.”