Vote to honor Veterans

Veteran’s Day will soon be here, and I’m remembering my Dad— a quiet, gentle man who rarely spoke of his Army days, even when his kids begged for war stories. Over many decades, and a few hushed conversations, this is what Dad told me.

He was a young man when Fascism began rolling across Europe; he read about the fall of Czechoslovakia, Austria, Poland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, the Channel Islands, and France as it was happening. It was a scary time for the world.

Dad was part of the D-Day wave of hundreds of thousands of American soldiers who stormed the Normandy beaches, liberated Europe, and ended World War 2. When this Italian-American Catholic saw what was done to the Jews in the Concentration camps, and to people all over Europe, it was like staring Evil in the face. He knew, despite the enormous cost, that America had done the right thing.

Our father worked long hours, but he always made it to the polls. Dad said it was not only a right, but also the duty of every American to educate themselves, and to vote in every election. I wonder, if he were alive today, what Dad would have to say if he knew that more than 40 percent of registered voters never bothered to cast a ballot on November 8, 2016. I wonder how he would react if he knew that American citizens in Georgia, Kansas, North Dakota, and other states are being denied their right to vote.

Veteran’s day is November 11. If you really want to honor Veterans, do it by educating yourself and by voting on November 6, and in every election. Celebrate the sacrifices Veterans have made by making it easier for all of our citizens to cast their ballots, not by putting up roadblocks. If Dad was here, that’s what I think he’d say.