Our Social Contract

How to thank our veterans

Week of June 16, 2025

My father was a veteran and this is my thank you to him and his comrades in arms.

George (on the left) and his brother Harvey, reunited in Germany in 1945

My dad, George Nager, celebrated his 21^st birthday on March 8, 1944. He never shared what he actually did on that day; he was 3,000 miles away from his parents, his brother, other family members and friends. If I had to guess, he was probably in some pub in England, telling jokes and enjoying himself. By 21, he had already been living in Europe for almost two years.

While I may not know where he actually was on his birthday, I do know that by June 7, 1944, he landed in Normandy: D-Day plus one. He was assigned to the Army Signal Corps so he left the beach and headed into the forests to stay ahead of the troops and make sure communication capabilities were in place as the Allies advanced into France.

I know of one additional responsibility. Because of his fluency in French, he was given the role of a liaison with the French Resistance and eventually received a Medal of Honor from France. This is the sum total of information my father provided to me about his duties while serving overseas.

Like so many veterans of WWII, he never shared stories or provided much information about what he actually did. When I was old enough to realize that he had fought in the war and I asked him to tell me, he would make light of his time, responding with such comments as “I found a young lady to dance the nights away with” or “I ran like the dickens when I needed to.”

To know more about his life for the three and a half years he served, I have had to turn to other sources. His discharge papers tell me that he was stationed in England, the Ardennes, Central Europe, Normandy, northern France, and the Rhineland. I created a storyline in my head that is periodically annotated by some comment he made that I overheard.

For example: When my parents returned from a trip to the Alsace-Lorraine region, around the year 2000, they reported on the trip. My father referred to a bakery in a small town, one that he knew from his time there during the war. In an offhand way he said, “It was amazing to see that the bullet holes were still there, in the bricks and mortar. The last time I saw that corner I had been running from some Germans and they opened fire and I stood there hoping that this wasn’t the end.”

After the movie Saving Private Ryan was released, he told me that the movie was one of the best depictions of his experiences. I have watched that movie and cried numerous times. He told me that this was the most realistic depiction of life during his time in France.

A few months before he died (in 2014) there was a moment when I experienced the fear he must have felt throughout this time. He was speaking in French with a young man, who happened to be visiting my home at a time when my father was also present. This visitor asked him many questions about his war experiences. One of the questions set off a visible reaction and my father had an intense flashback. He began to cry, calling for his mother, all the while telling some unseen men to crawl on their bellies. He was leading this small group through enemy lines to set up the communication apparatus. That image stays with me.

After he passed away, his brother, Harvey, told me how my father had reached out to his commanding officers after V-E Day to have his brother transferred from Italy to the Rhineland to make sure my uncle wasn’t shipped as planned to the Pacific theater of war. I am left with a photograph (at the beginning of this essay) of the two brothers, reunited in Germany before they were finally discharged and returned safely home to Brooklyn, NY. In the photo, my father is just 22 years old and his brother is 19 years old. They both look much older to me. War aged them.

My father, like his brother, like his cousins, like his friends, all volunteered to fight for this country. For ideals of democracy, justice, liberty, and the four freedoms, enumerated by President Roosevelt in his 1941 State of the Union Address: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.

Norman Rockwell’s illustrations of the Four Freedoms

When they returned to their homes and families, they didn’t expect thanks. But they received the appreciation of a grateful nation that saw fit to provide free college and vocational education, subsidized living expenses so the GIs could afford to get educated; plus more benefits such as low-interest loans to purchase homes. These programs were the beginning of a strong social safety net to help with medical care and other expenses. For my father, who had joined up right after high school graduation, he used his GI benefits to pay for college and to obtain a low-interest mortgage for our family home.

These are the benefits that a grateful nation needs to provide. Americans say “Thank you” with value behind words of appreciation. It’s little enough to do for those men and women who are willing to sacrifice everything to ensure the values and ideals of our country.

Military parades are empty of meaning

Today, we are witnessing the erosion of everything they fought for. The ideals of democracy are being shredded on a daily basis and the Republican party is fully complicit in destroying all the work of the last 250 years. Instead of freedom of speech, we see people rounded up for expressing opinions that differ from the “official line” of this president. Elected members of government, from mayors to U.S. senators are handcuffed, detained, arrested, and indicted for doing their job. This is not what my father fought for.

Justice is being denied on a daily basis as the cornerstone of being free from persecution is destroyed. Masked ICE agents simply arrest anyone they want to; no warrants and no due process.

Freedom from want is now on the chopping block as the Republicans aim to give more money to extremely wealthy citizens and cut food, medical care and veterans’ benefits.

Freedom of worship is threatened by proposed legislation to use public money to support Christian religious schools as well as new executive orders “investigating” an anti-Christian bias in this country with the goal of forcing Christianity upon us as the national religion.

Fear has overtaken almost everyone, including such Republican senators as Lisa Murkowski, who stated during a meeting with non-profit organizations in Alaska, who were losing their staff to DOGE cuts that “We are all afraid.” If our leaders are too fearful to do anything, then it’s time for them to step aside.

My father and my uncle faced death on a frequent basis for months and years. The possibility of capture never left their thoughts. Even though they were afraid, they persevered. Our leaders need to follow their example.

A military parade in Washington D.C. doesn’t thank veterans, nor does mouthing platitudes about valuing the military when lying about not cutting benefits for them. As I write this essay, the President and Congress are working to cut even more funding for veterans’ care, which has been underfunded for decades. Veterans continue to experience high rates of homelessness, substance abuse addiction, and suicide. Thank them by taking the money for the parade and putting it toward mental health care.

Here is how I will thank my father and all veterans for their service

To thank them and all their comrades-in-arms, from the creation of this country to the present and to continue into the future, I will continue to fight for the Social Contract they fought to ensure and uphold the pledge made by FDR in his State of the Union address. These Americans gave their all so that we can stand proud as a country that knows and enjoys the benefits of freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.

Marines raising the flag in battle of Iwo Jima

Question: What are you doing to thank veterans in your family and among your friends?