Recognizing Veterans Day: A Message from Pete Lewis, Co-Chair of the VSHSL Advisory Board

To those who served, the idea of being honored for their service has great meaning. 

Veterans Day celebrations after WWII were, to the vets, a celebration of survival. They made it home. There was a great deal of pride in seeing other vets honored as well. The Korean War veterans were also happy for the other veterans who made it back. Then came Vietnam, and things changed. In many cities across the country, Veterans Day parades ended for a while. There were few happy homecomings, so many felt abandoned. In my own city of Auburn, there was no celebration for a time until a service club decided to restart it.  

Since then, there have been few homecoming parades for veterans who fought in the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other places; yet the Veterans Day parade holds a place in their hearts for them all. For far too many, it was and remains the only time that they are celebrated for their service to the country. 

For decades after the war in Vietnam, veterans across the country felt left out, including myself. With encouragement from my family and friends, I did begin to see the torment many were still going through.  

While serving as mayor of Auburn, I was on the King County Regional Policy Committee (RPC). John Wise, former mayor of Enumclaw, and I saw the devastating statistics of homelessness, drug and alcohol dependency, and suicide rates of our veterans. We found an old levy that had been crafted for Korean War veterans and drafted a new levy proposition for veterans. We presented it to the RPC, and with the addition of Human Services, it was passed out of the RPC, to the full county council and then passed by voters in 2005 and implemented in 2006. 

[Today known as the Veterans, Seniors, and Human Services Levy], this levy has done tremendous work for veterans since then, and there is [still] much more to do. Looking toward the future, we must focus on the levy as a critical source of support for the health and well-being of veterans and their families and communities.   

This article is an excerpt from a reflection on the importance of Veterans Day shared by the Veterans, Seniors, & Human Services Levy in their November newsletter. This excerpt was written by  veteran and former Mayor of the City of Auburn, Pete Lewis, co-chair of the Veterans, Seniors, and Human Services Levy Advisory Board.