Summary: Veterans deserve our gratitude not just for their service, but for defending the rights we possess as free people. Through stories of sacrifice, protection, and healing, we see how courage shapes freedom, and why remembering their service matters for our families and our nation.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Rights Worth Defending

3. Sacrificial Service: Jan Scruggs and The Wall That Heals

4. Defend and Protect: Peter Scott's Mission Continues

5. Courage Under Fire: Dakota Meyer's Medal of Honor

6. Teaching Our Children to Remember

7. Final Thoughts

Introduction

Veterans, thank you for your service.

You hear these words every year because they express a truth that cannot be overstated: without your courage, we would not have a country. We deeply value what you have given so that we might live securely and without fear. You have fought in more ways than one to keep us safe and free.

But there's something deeper at stake in your service. You didn't defend rights that government invented or bestowed upon us. You defended rights that come from God Himself, rights that exist because we are made in His image, endowed with dignity no earthly power can grant or revoke. Your service protects what is already ours by divine appointment: life, liberty, and the pursuit of flourishing under God's moral order.

Today, we honor you with three stories of sacrificial courage, and we ask ourselves how we can teach the next generation to remember what you have secured.

Rights Worth Defending

The American experiment rests on a foundational truth: our rights are not given by government. They are God-given, inalienable, and worth defending at great cost. This is the principle veterans have protected across generations.

When our founders declared independence, they didn't claim to create rights, they recognized them. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights" (US Declaration of Independence). 

Government's role is not to grant freedom but to secure it. Veterans stand in that gap, ensuring tyranny does not steal what God has already given.

This is why we say thank you with such gravity. You didn't just serve a nation, you defended a promise of liberty rooted in transcendent truth.

Sacrificial Service: Jan Scruggs and The Wall That Heals

 The following adapted story is based on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund’s feature “Jan Scruggs,” which recounts how one Vietnam veteran’s vision and perseverance led to the creation of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, a national tribute to sacrifice, healing, and remembrance.

Army veteran Jan Scruggs of Bowie, Maryland, understood the cost of freedom firsthand. After serving in Vietnam, he returned home with a mission: to help the nation heal. In 1979, Scruggs founded the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

The memorial features a wall etched with over 58,000 names of those who died or went missing in the Vietnam War, and includes three structures: The Three Soldiers statue, the Vietnam Women's Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, known as The Wall That Heals.

Scruggs contributed $2,800 of his own money to start the project, then went on to raise over $8 million. What he created became sacred ground. Visitors leave mementos at the wall including hats, dog tags, letters, over 300,000 items now housed in a dedicated warehouse. Each one represents a life, a family, a sacrifice remembered.

If you find yourself in Washington, D.C., visit the memorial. Let your children run their fingers over the names. Teach them that freedom is not free, that every name represents a person who loved their country enough to die for it. 

Defend and Protect: Peter Scott's Mission Continues

The following adapted story is inspired by Christina Ianzito’s AARP article “Reporting for Duty” (2022).

Peter Scott is a 12-year veteran who served in Qatar, Pakistan, and Afghanistan as a Green Beret counterintelligence agent. After returning home, he was diagnosed with PTSD and began gardening in Maryland. That small garden grew into Fields 4 Valor Farms, a 7-acre vegetable and produce farm that now feeds and employs veterans.

Sgt. 1st Class Scott defended American citizens through his military service. But his story reveals a painful reality many veterans face: upon leaving the military, they often struggle to translate their skills into civilian life. The battle with purposelessness can be as intense as the combat they survived.

Scott's farm offers more than produce, it offers purpose. Veterans work the land, grow food, and rebuild their sense of mission. They protected us abroad; now they nourish us at home. Scott's story reminds us that serving veterans doesn't end when they take off the uniform. We honor them by helping them thrive in the peace they helped to secure.

Courage Under Fire: Dakota Meyer's Medal of Honor

The following adapted story draws from the U.S. Department of Defense feature “Medal of Honor Recipient Dakota Meyer’s Legacy of Service, Sacrifice” (2024).

In September 2009, Marine Corporal Dakota Meyer was embedded with Afghan forces in the Ganjgal Valley when his unit came under ambush. Despite being ordered to stay back, Meyer disobeyed and made five trips into the kill zone over six hours, rescuing 36 Afghan and American soldiers while under heavy fire. He was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2011, becoming the first living Marine to receive it since the Vietnam War.

Meyer, reflecting on the battle, said, "Valor isn't just about honor or obligation. It's your family, your brothers, your Marines — that's what you do for a brother. We're either going in there, or we're going to die trying."

This is what courage looks like: not the absence of fear, but the willingness to act in spite of it. Meyer's actions saved lives and embodied the warrior spirit that defends the defenseless.

Teaching Our Children to Remember

Our children are growing up in a world that often forgets. Cultural amnesia threatens to sever the connection between freedom and the blood price paid to secure it. We must actively teach them to remember.

Here are three ways to honor veterans in your home this week:

Visit a memorial or veteran's cemetery as a family. 

Let your children see the rows of white stones, the flags, the names. Silence speaks volumes.

Write thank-you letters to veterans. 

Teach your children to express gratitude in writing. Mail them to your local state hospitals or veteran service organizations.

Share stories of sacrifice at the dinner table. 

Read aloud the accounts of Jan Scruggs, Peter Scott, or Dakota Meyer. Ask your children: "What does courage mean? Why is freedom worth defending?"

Memory is not passive. It requires intentional cultivation. Make this Veterans Day week a turning point in your family's commitment to remember and honor those who served.

Final Thoughts

Freedom is not a given, it is a gift, purchased at great cost and sustained by vigilant courage. Veterans defend what government cannot grant: God-given rights rooted in human dignity and moral order.

As we honor them this week, let us also commit to teaching our children the principles they fought to protect. Let us cultivate gratitude, remember sacrifice, and build homes where courage and conviction flourish.

Veterans, we honor you. We remember you. And we will not let your sacrifice be forgotten.

Related Reads

Self-Government: The Forgotten Key to Lasting Freedom

Liberty of Conscience: Freedom with Responsibility before God

Family as the First Government

Ready to Teach Your Family the Principles Worth Defending? 

Explore the American Principles Series—25 episodes (~9.5 hours) of video content designed to help families understand the foundations of liberty, virtue, and civic responsibility. Lifetime access for $99 at apseries.com. 

About This Content

This article was researched and written as part of the American Principles Series educational initiative, which equips families to understand the foundations of American liberty rooted in Christian principles. The veteran stories featured here were carefully selected from verified Department of Defense records, AARP reporting, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund archives.

Bibliography

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. “Jan Scruggs.” VVMF.org. Accessed November 12, 2025. https://www.vvmf.org/stories/Jan-Scruggs/

Ianzito, Christina. “Reporting for Duty.” AARP, May 26, 2022. https://www.aarp.org/veterans/peter-scott-reporting-for-duty/