First- Happy Veterans Day!  Today is a day to honor all who have served in the protection of this great country of ours.

Unfortunately there is a vast population of service men and women who are not considered “veterans of war” even though it was a war that spanned decades and spurred massive social change in parts of the world.

It was a war that saw the Cuban missile crisis and the fall of the Berlin Wall (for which I feel numerous players should have been considered for a Nobel Peace Prize- a much more significant achievement then merely being elected, but that is another post for another day).  One that saw both the race to the moon and the race for nuclear arms.

But because this war was not fought in traditional methods those who served in the military during this time (obviously excluding those who served in the Korean and Vietnam wars) are not considered veterans.  They can not join the VFW and to this date were not awarded a service medal, as all veterans of other wars are.

Can we not argue that the dissolution of the USSR was just as important as the ousting of Saddam Hussein?  That preventing the spread of communism and the threat of nuclear war just as vital as squelching the work of the Taliban?

What would the world look like had those men and women not “stood watch” through 40+ years of tension?

It is time that these service men and women get the recognition that they deserve.

Yesterday two bills were introduced into Congress that would do just that.

Please contact your Senators and ask them to co-sponsor senate bill (S.2743) Also contact your congressman and ask them to co-sponsor house bill (H.R. 4051)

These military men and women are no less veterans then those who fought in traditional wars- it is about time that we and the government recognize that.