(Photo provided by the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center)

The Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center in Iron Mountain is dedicated to serving the needs of more than 40,000 men and women who have served in the armed forces and who reside in the Upper Peninsula and northern Wisconsin.

Our nation’s veterans fought and served to make our freedoms and way of life possible.

And for that, we have an obligation to them.

Our nation’s one truly sacred obligation is to prepare and equip the troops we send into harm’s way, and to care for them and their families when they return home.

The second part of that obligation is our primary mission at the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center.

It’s our job, our responsibility, to serve veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors, as well as they’ve served us, as well as they’ve served our country — and not just on Veterans Day, but every day.

Yet Veterans Day is something more. It’s a call to action for each of us to serve veterans throughout the year. It’s a great opportunity for all of us to solemnly renew our commitment to those who served.

From Bunker Hill to Baghdad, from Kings Mountain to Kandahar, we are the beneficiaries of their vigilance and determination to uphold the democratic beliefs on which our nation was founded.

America has been blessed as no other country in the history of the world. The sacrifices of our armed forces have given us the security and freedom in which to grow and flourish as a nation — in law, human rights, in business and economics, in science, technology, education and the arts.

They have enabled the United States to stand as a beacon of hope and freedom to others, across the world, drawing millions to our shores, a model of democracy for the world.

We remember America’s heroes Monday, Nov. 11, because on that day, at the 11th hour of the 11th month of 1918, the guns of the Great War, the “war to end all wars,” fell silent.

But as we all know, it was sadly not the last fight.

Nazism and fascism rose around much of the world, and 16 million American men and women stepped forward to fight tyranny in World War II. They overcame all adversaries, leading us to victory, and unsurpassed world leadership and influence.

They did so again on the frozen mountains of Korea, in the humid jungles and rice paddies of Vietnam, in the sands and deserts during Desert Storm, and in the brutal battles in Afghanistan and Iraq.

And that is the story of the American veteran. Ordinary men and women stepping forward to win and preserve our independence, and to help others who experienced the dark oppression of tyranny.

On Veterans Day, we remember them all. They donned their uniforms and lay their lives on the line for each of us — to allow us to have the opportunity to enjoy the blessings of freedom.

Veterans Day is certainly a special day for those of us here at OGJVAMC.

We are dedicated to serving the needs of the more than 40,000 men and women who have served in this nation’s armed forces who reside in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and northern Wisconsin.

At OGJVAMC, we help the nation repay its debt to those who have served, we strive to keep our covenant with veterans, every day, and we seek to constantly and consistently build trust between us and all my fellow veterans. Because fulfilling that covenant and building that trust helps us achieve our vision of providing world-class health care that improves the health and well-being of our veterans.