Military conflicts are not always popular, but those who served deserve immense gratitude for what they staked.
Following the GOP’s midterm wreck, in which the Iran war factored significantly, the Trump administration is affirming that loud appreciation for members of our military is politically evergreen. And there’s no better way to demonstrate that gratitude than by reforming the Veterans Administration, to better serve those who have served.
This Veterans Day, President Trump, as well as several high-profile administration officials, will visit Arlington National Cemetery and highlight the stories of brave veteran attendees, including Silver Star recipients, an Army Green Beret, and an aviator in the Vietnam war. Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins will address veterans, active-duty service members, and representatives of veteran service organizations. The service of those who will be present ranges from the European theater of World War II to the mountains of Afghanistan and the rubble of Beirut.
Corporal Wilbur J. “Jack” Myers, one of 13 children from Williamsport, Md., was drafted in 1943 and trained as a gunner with the 692nd Tank Destroyer Battalion. Attached to the 104th and 42nd Infantry Divisions, he fought across Europe in the final, grinding year of the war.
Colonel (ret.) Frank Arthur Athanason enlisted at 19 in 1945, commanded African-American troops during occupation duty near Nuremberg, witnessed the Nuremberg Trials, and later served in Korea, Vietnam, and Europe across a 32-year career that resulted in his earning a Silver Star. He returned home on November 11, 1946 — the first Veterans Day after the war’s end — and reenlisted the following year.
Sergeant First Class Ryan Hendrickson’s path ran through three services. After time in the Navy and Air Force, he became a Green Beret with the 7th Special Forces Group. In September 2010, during a clearance operation in Afghanistan’s Uruzgan Province, he stepped on an improvised explosive device while trying to reach an Afghan counterpart. The blast nearly severed his right leg. He earned a Silver Star, four Bronze Stars, a Purple Heart, and other decorations before medically retiring.
Colonel Douglas E. Moore flew 1,874 combat missions across two tours in Vietnam, evacuated 2,782 patients, and piloted the aircraft that recovered three American POWs along the Cambodian border.
Dale Garner was asleep in his bunk in the U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut in 1983 when the building collapsed into a 25-foot pile of rubble. Of the 15 men in his room, he was the sole survivor.
These soldiers stepped out into the perilous unknown with humility, courage, and a deep love of country. And they deserve a hand from the country that they have fought to protect and defend. Since 1930, the Veterans Administration has existed to do just that, but the quality of care offered to the millions of patients who rely on it has been on a steady decline. The Trump administration has resolved to change that.
Since January 20, 2025, the Department of Veterans Affairs has opened 47 new health-care clinics. Having risen under the Biden administration, the backlog of benefits claims has now fallen by nearly 70 percent, dropping below 70,000 in June for the first time since 2020. More than 300,000 new veterans have enrolled in VA health care. The department has offered more than 3.5 million appointments outside normal hours and completed record numbers of both direct-care and community-care visits. The average processing time for disability claims is down 46 percent. Nearly 49,000 homeless veterans were permanently housed in the most recent fiscal year, supported by record grant funding and emergency supply programs.
Steps have been taken to accelerate electronic health-record modernization after years of stalled progress, and to increase nonrecurring maintenance spending on VA facilities to nearly $5 billion. Bureaucracy is a big reason why dealing with the VA can be a headache for its beneficiaries, so the Trump administration has worked to reduce paperwork for benefits applications by nearly two-thirds.
Under Collins, the VA has also ended the practice of reporting to the FBI’s background-check system certain veterans who require fiduciary assistance with their benefits. It has reorganized management structures to reduce layers between hospital directors and patients. For the many soldiers who come home with hidden scars, monitoring for mental health has been a priority of this VA, with rates of suicide-prevention screening and evaluations reaching new highs. Physical healing is just as crucial, which is why the VA is on track to decrease prosthetic-limb delivery times.
These improvements in efficiency do not erase the injuries, the long waits for care that some still face, and the invisible wounds that only brothers- and sisters-in-arms fully understand. But these achievements by the VA represent a measurable shift in capacity and processing speed during a period when the number of veterans who need care has continued to rise.
After serving two tours in Vietnam in the Army Signal Corp, my late dad was very comfortable with the care he received at the VA, despite its many imperfections. For the men and women who wear the uniform, the VA is more than just a network of hospitals. As I saw in my dad’s case, there’s pride in it, though it seems peculiar to those aware of its defects. It’s a place of familiarity, fraternity, and belonging that reminds veterans that they are not forgotten.
Military conflicts are not always popular, but one thing should never be in dispute: Those who served deserve immense gratitude for what they staked. In this respect, the Trump administration feels confident that it has succeeded.