Recognizing Veterans Day

As we celebrate Veterans Day this month, I am reminded of the unbelievable sacrifices our men and women in the service have made.

Oklahoma is proud to be home to a substantial military presence. We have over 19,000 active-duty service members, 7,500 active-duty spouses and over 14,000 active-duty children. Additionally, the Oklahoma National Guard is strong in our state, with over 20,000 National Guard and reserve members, who have 8,156 spouses and over 13,000 children.

It is only thanks to the innumerable sacrifices of these brave men and women that we have the freedoms we enjoy today in this great country.

However, I can't reflect on these freedoms without also remembering the extraordinarily high cost of them.

That cost is paid by our veterans, by those who still serve in our military today, and by those who paid the ultimate sacrifice and gave their lives in service to our nation.

These heroes come from all backgrounds, but they share the same fundamental qualities: courage, pride, determination, selflessness, dedication to duty and integrity. These are all the qualities needed to serve a cause greater than yourself.

Nobody goes to war because they love fighting. They didn't ask to leave their homes to fight on distant battlefields. Some of them didn't even volunteer. Instead, our veterans recognized that they were being called to a cause bigger than themselves. These ordinary people - our friends, our family, our neighbors - responded in extraordinary ways in extreme times.

Not everyone will serve. Not everyone will be part of a military family. But everyone can remember. Today and every day, our state and our country pledge that we will never forget.

Those of us who are still here have an obligation to show our love, support, and gratitude with our words and our actions. We have an obligation to practice in our own lives the ideals our veterans fought and died for. We resolve to be better people, better citizens, and a better country, because of them.

I want to thank all of our veterans and veteran families for your sacrifice to give us freedom. I hope you feel the depths of our gratitude as we celebrate this holiday.

Before I close out this column, I want to highlight an especially relevant verse as we celebrate Veterans Day. John 15:13 says, "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends."

The sacrifice of our nation's veterans is reflective of the greatest of loves.

Thank you all for the honor of representing you and House District 51 at the State Capitol. God bless each of you and God bless our veterans!

Rep. Brad Boles represents District 51 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, which includes Grady and Stephens Counties.