Honoring Veterans: Reflections on Service, Sacrifice, and Mortality
Today, on Veterans Day, we pause to honor those who have served—those who offered their time, bodies, and lives in service to something larger than themselves. Whether or not we agree with the wars they fought in, we can recognize the humanity of each person who bore the weight of service, and the lasting ripples that service creates in families, communities, and collective memory.
For deathworkers, Veterans Day invites us into a layered conversation about duty, death, and remembrance. The military asks people to face mortality directly, often at a young age. Many who serve carry that awareness for the rest of their lives, long after they hang up the uniform. Death becomes an ever-present companion—both feared and familiar.
Remembering with Compassion
When we remember veterans, we remember more than their service records. We remember the whole person—their humor, their contradictions, their grief, their love stories. We hold space for the visible and invisible wounds that follow war. We acknowledge the staggering rates of veteran suicide, the struggles with reintegration, and the complex ways trauma reshapes the body and soul.
To honor veterans means to listen deeply, to care for the living as much as we remember the dead, and to challenge ourselves to imagine gentler worlds—ones that do not require so much sacrifice.
Deathwork and Military Rituals
Military death rituals—folded flags, taps, final salutes—are steeped in tradition. These acts give structure to grief, but they can also leave families wanting something more personal or sacred. As deathworkers, we can help families bridge the ceremonial and the intimate—inviting storytelling, sacred silence, or ritual acts that reflect both service and self.
Whether through home funerals, legacy projects, or simple remembrance rituals, we can help ensure that the deaths of veterans—and the lives they lived—are witnessed with dignity and depth.
A Moment of Gratitude and Reflection
Today, light a candle. Visit a grave. Say the names of those who served and those who suffered. Reflect on what service and sacrifice mean in your own life, and how you can embody care for those carrying the weight of war.
May we honor veterans not only in death, but in how we tend to one another in life.
Resources for Veterans and Families:
