We just celebrated Veterans Day on Nov. 11. At one time it was known as Armistice Day in the United States. In Canada and other countries it is known as Remembrance Day.
This is the day in 1918 when fighting ceased, which basically ended World War I. At the time it was thought to be the war to end all wars. It also was marked as a day to honor World War I veterans.
To honor those who have served their country in military duty in succeeding wars, the name was changed to Veterans Day in 1954. So how do we celebrate Veterans Day these days? There are the ever-present retail sales, but that’s hardly honoring veterans for their military service.
One way to mark Veterans Day is to go beyond remembering veterans on one day a year (or two if you count Memorial Day), but to see what you can do for veterans year-round. If you are in a position at a company where you do the hiring, do you consider veterans to work at your business? We often hear from contractors that hiring isn’t just about technical knowledge, but also about attitude. Consider whether qualities that you seek in an applicant are also qualities that a veteran would have, too.
Another way to help veterans is to give them your business. There are a lot of entrepreneurial veterans out there. I’m not saying that you should just give their company your hard-earned dollars solely because it’s a veteran-owned business, you could at least keep it in mind when looking for a company that offers that goods or services.
This fall, I went to a cider mill with a small stand selling salsa. The stand wasn’t related to the cider mill at all, and I found out that a Marine Corps veteran started a company (Jar Head Salsa LLC) to make and sell it.
Since I’m a fan of salsa, I tried it, and really liked the taste; I think it could give some of the big national brands a run for their money. Because I liked it, I bought a container and enjoyed every last bit of it.
So that’s just one way I’ve personally found to salute our veterans. I recently saw Jar Head Salsa in a grocery store near my house, so now I know where to go the next time I have a salsa craving.
