Union Veterans Council Statement & Plans for Remembrance of 9/11

As we do on this solemn date each year, we remember those who we lost and those who serve. It has been a long 20 years since the attacks, with many sacrifices made at home and abroad. But this will be the first year since that day that combat operations have ended in Afghanistan.

September 11th and the Afghan war are defining moments for our country and the generation of warfighters that served during this time, and it is critical that we remember the long-lasting physical and mental wounds this generation will carry -- in many cases, for a lifetime.

Over the past 20 years union members have sent their sons and daughters on countless deployments, transitioning veterans have joined unions creating a union density in the veterans community one third higher than the national average, and today far to many union members have lost loved ones during this conflict both overseas in combat and back home combating the traumas of war, this group includes an ever-growing number of union members who have lost parents over the last 20 years.

Leading up to September 11th, Union Veterans Council Executive Director Will Attig will be joining National Flight Attendant and Air Line Pilots unions for private Remembrances ceremonies at the Pentagon, with Speaker Pelosi at the Capitol Remembrance, and fellow veterans for an Arlington National Cemetery's remembrance at section 60.

While these conflicts have shaped so much of our lives during the last two decades, they do not define us.

Today this generation of veterans have taken up the mantle of service at home as leaders in their communities and their unions. When given the opportunity they are thriving in their jobs and serving in key roles including as union presidents, formen, shop Stewards and even Members of Congress. But just as we will never forget those we have lost, we must also never stop supporting our veterans community at home with economic opportunities, stability and benefits they deserve.