Moffat County School District believes in patriotism. But we believe that patriotism is about more than just pride.

Patriotism is about love. It’s about sacrifice. It’s about seeing the sacrifice of our fellow countrymen, at home and abroad, and in this moment most particularly including our veteran servicemembers, and honoring it by how we live.

Gratitude is only part of the puzzle. It’s not enough to just tell a veteran thank you for defending our freedoms. We also must embrace the cause of their effort, their pain, their sacrifice on our behalf. We must fight for it, too.

What is it that makes serving in foreign wars worthwhile? Why do we do it? Why do we honor those who do it?

Veterans and active duty servicemembers serve and sacrifice because they believe in something worth giving everything for. Are the freedoms, the ideals, the safety, the prosperity they fight for concepts we’re willing to also give to protect? To build? To strengthen?

The idea of America, that idea for which these faithful servants give so much, is hard to define. Is it in the Declaration of Independence? “We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” Is it in scripture? “To love our neighbor as ourselves?” Is it in the words of President Kennedy? “Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country?”

We believe it’s in all of that and more. And so we commit this Veterans Day to honor those ideals and the men and women who have given so much fighting to protect them. To do so by looking out for one another; by caring for those who need help; by strengthening and uplifting those who need opportunity; and by remembering that the pursuit of happiness is a right granted us by our Creator not just as individuals, but as a family, and that to honor those who protect that right is to make that right a reality for all.

Thank you to our veterans. Thank you to those who serve. You inspire us. We will honor your sacrifice.