"For more than eighty years, Veterans' Day has held special meaning. This Friday, the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the eleventh year of this century, has heightened significance.
We celebrate the fact that our brave troops still stationed in Iraq will be coming home by the end of the year. We rejoice knowing that they may celebrate holidays with their families and friends. And I hope that our troops in Afghanistan will soon follow.
But for all those coming home from war and those who preceded them, the transition back to civilian life is often not easy. It can be fraught with stresses and obstacles. The effects of post-traumatic stress, depression, physical injuries, financial problems and long family separations are made even worse by a tight job market and a troubled housing market.
In this economy, creating jobs for all who want them must be our first priority, but our veterans deserve to be at the top of the list.
I am committed to helping all of our veterans find jobs and housing and receive the health care, benefits, training and guidance they need to transition back successfully from military to civilian life.
This auspicious date -11/11/11- will end at midnight; but every day, we should remember the sacrifices our veterans made for our nation and the support we must always sustain for them."