Let us not conflate Memorial (Decoration) Day with Veterans’ (Armistice) Day. Memorial (Decoration) Day is to honor those who died. Veterans’ (Armistice) Day is to honor those who served.

And let us remember that those who died include those who died of wounds years after the conflict in which they served. And just as importantly, not all the wounds of which they died were physical, pace Section 104.

So when people talk of “privatizing” the Veterans’ Administration, or denying benefits, let them remember, today and every day, “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”