Veterans Day, 2024

Proclamation 10855 of November 6, 2024 Veterans Day, 2024 A Proclamation Today, we honor generations of America's veterans—patriots who have stood on the frontlines of freedom and kept the light of liberty shining bright around the world. Just as they have kept the ultimate faith in our Nation, we must keep ultimate faith in them. Each one of our Nation's veterans is a link in a chain of honor that stretches back to our founding days—bound by a sacred oath to support and defend the United States of America. Throughout history, whenever and wherever the forces of darkness have sought to extinguish the flame of freedom, America's veterans have been fighting to keep it burning bright. I remember so clearly the pride the First Lady and I felt in our son Beau during his service in Iraq. He—like all our veterans from Belleau Wood, Baghdad, and Gettysburg to Guadalcanal, Korea, and Kandahar and beyond—lived, served, and sacrificed by a creed of duty. We owe them a debt of gratitude we can never fully repay, not just for fighting for our democracy, but for giving back to our communities and inspiring the next generation to serve, even after they hang up their uniforms. As a Nation, we have one truly sacred obligation: to prepare and equip those we send into harm's way and to care for them and their families when they return home. Since I came into office, I have signed more than 34 bipartisan laws to support our veterans and their families, caregivers, and survivors. That includes the landmark Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act, which enacted the most significant expansion of benefits and services for veterans exposed to toxins in more than 30 years. Today, more than 1.1 million veterans and 11,000 survivors of deceased veterans are now receiving new service-connected disability benefits, and over 5.8 million veterans have been screened for toxic exposure—a critical step to ensuri…