Labrador Letter: Veterans Day 2025

Dear Friends,

This week we honor the men and women who have worn the uniform in service to our Republic. Veterans Day is a moment to pause and acknowledge the depth of sacrifice that makes our freedoms possible. It's a debt we can never fully repay, but one we must never forget we owe.

For nearly two and a half centuries, Americans have answered the call to serve. Some volunteered, driven by duty and love of country. Others were drafted, yet served with equal honor. They've stood watch in peacetime and fought in war. They've defended liberty on distant shores and secured it here at home. Through every generation, they've proven that freedom is not free-it requires ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

I think about the Gold Star families who have given the ultimate sacrifice. I think about the veterans who returned home carrying wounds both seen and unseen. I think about those still serving today, separated from their families, standing guard so we can sleep peacefully. Each represents a choice to put something greater than themselves first.

But service doesn't end with the uniform. Veterans return to our communities and continue serving-as teachers, business owners, public servants, neighbors, and parents. They bring with them discipline, integrity, and an understanding of what it means to be part of something bigger than yourself. They strengthen the fabric of Idaho and America through their continued commitment to the values they swore to defend.

The families of our veterans deserve recognition too. Military spouses who manage households through deployments, children who understand that duty sometimes means saying goodbye, parents who watch their sons and daughters ship out to unknown dangers. They serve alongside our veterans in ways that often go unrecognized, and their love and support make service possible.

Our veterans have protected Idaho families for generations, ensuring that we can raise our children in freedom, pursue our dreams without fear, and live according to our values. They've safeguarded the Constitution that protects our rights as parents, citizens, and people of faith. They've preserved the liberty that allows Idaho families to thrive.

As we remember their service today, we can honor veterans best by being worthy of what they've given us. That means standing up for the principles they defended. It means raising our children to understand the cost of freedom and the value of service. It means treating our Republic with the respect it deserves and participating in the democracy they preserved.

To the veterans reading this letter, your service matters. Your sacrifice has meaning. Whether you served in wartime or peace, at home or abroad, for four years or forty, you have earned the gratitude of every American. Thank you for your willingness to stand between freedom and those who would take it away. Thank you for choosing service over safety, duty over comfort.

To the families of our veterans, thank you for your sacrifices, your strength, and your unwavering support. You have served too, and we see you.

On this Veterans Day, let us remember that courage isn't the absence of fear, it's doing what's right despite it. Our veterans embody that truth. They remind us that some things are worth fighting for, worth sacrificing for, worth defending with our lives.
Today and every day, we owe them our respect, our gratitude, and our commitment to preserving what they fought to protect.

Best regards,