By Don C. Brunell
President
Association of Washington Business

As Thanksgiving approaches, we look back and count our blessings.
This year, that is difficult for many families who have loved ones deployed
in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is even harder for those whose relatives have
been killed or wounded in combat.

This year, I am thankful for a World War II veteran and his wife I
met this summer in upstate Michigan. They reminded me of my parents, who
have passed away. They are the fabric of America.

He and his wife of 64 years were raised in a Michigan farming
community near Battle Creek. Like my parents, they dated in high school,
and when he graduated in 1943, he joined the Army. My dad also enlisted in
the same Army and was wounded in the war. He fully recovered. However, two
years after this man signed up, he lost his right arm fighting in the
Pacific.

He returned home disabled, but not defeated. He used the GI bill to
go to college and eventually became a senior auditor with the state of
Michigan where he retired after 38 years. My father used the GI bill to go
to trade school to become a journeyman electrician. After 50 years he
became a master electrician-a title he proudly wore.

They raised four children and established family traditions that
would leave lasting impressions on their children and grandchildren just as
my parents did.

Their tradition was to travel to Mackinac Island for a three-night
stay at the famed Grand Hotel, a historic place steeped in its own
tradition, when their children and grandchildren completed high school. Now
in their mid-80s and hobbled by time, this would be their last trip to the
Hotel. They were celebrating their three youngest grandchildren's
graduation.

The last time I saw them, they were decked out in evening attire and
headed into the dining room for a formal dinner. You could see the love and
respect in the eyes of both the grandparents and the teenagers. It is what
family is all about.

This family's story is one that even melts the most cold-hearted.
It brought back fond memories of my family back in Montana for which I am
eternally grateful.

If all of us do our part to support our troops and their families
while they are serving and after they return, there will be more stories
like this 40 or 50 years from now.

For that to happen, all of us must remember it isn't just the job of
the government, military or the Veterans Administration to help our troops
put the horrors of war behind them and resume their civilian lives. We all
have that responsibility as citizens of a grateful nation.

We cannot forget that our returning veterans need healing,
unification, education, training and career opportunities. Uncle Sam can
and will provide much of that assistance, but we must make sure that those
troops and their families have welcoming communities and workplaces to
return to.

On this Thanksgiving-and on the ones ahead-Americans must not forget
the sacrifices of our veterans and their families. They won't.