{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.collins.senate.gov/newsroom/commemorating-veterans-day-freedom-maine", "Commemorating Veterans Day in Freedom, Maine", "2017-11-17", "2017", "2017-11", "Republican", "House", "ME", "Susan Collins", "C001035", "www.collins.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Veterans Day is one of the most sacred days on our national calendar.\u00a0 This year, it was a special pleasure to spend that day of remembrance and gratitude in Freedom, Maine, a town whose very name celebrates the great gift we have been given by our veterans and those who serve today.\nFreedom is more than the name of that lovely Waldo County community; it is its heritage.\u00a0 The first settler in 1794 was Stephen Smith, a patriot who fought for freedom in the Revolutionary War.\u00a0 The town was incorporated during the War of 1812, the first challenge to our young nation\u2019s freedom.\u00a0 In 1863, with the Civil War raging, a young man from Freedom named Daniel Davis left school and joined the 1st Maine Cavalry Regiment so that the blessing of freedom would be extended to all Americans.\u00a0 In 1880, he became Maine\u2019s 37th Governor.\nOn Veterans Day 2017, the people of Freedom paid tribute to their family members, friends, and neighbors who served in our time.\u00a0 The celebration coincided with the 98th birthday of Roy Ward, the town\u2019s oldest citizen, whose courageous Navy service during World War II inspires us today.\nWhile Freedom\u2019s history is unique, the virtues it describes unite our great nation.\u00a0 It is estimated that some 48 million Americans have served in uniform since the founding of our nation.\u00a0 Today, more than 20 million veterans live among us, more than 116,000 right here in Maine. \u00a0To put that in perspective, Maine has more veterans per capita than all but two of the other states in the country.\u00a0 We are proud of our State\u2019s contributions to protecting our nation.\nThose numbers are impressive not only because of their sheer size, but also because they describe the history of a people united by the highest ideals of humanity.\u00a0 Those numbers are not cold statistics.\u00a0 Each one tells a story of courage, sacrifice, and devotion to duty.\nOn Veterans Day, we honor those who paid the ultimate price, whether they lie at rest in foreign lands or in their hometowns.\u00a0 We honor those who lived beyond their years of military service but who have since passed on.\u00a0 We honor those who remain missing and pledge that they never will be forgotten.\u00a0 And we honor those veterans who are with us today.\u00a0 We owe them all a great debt.\u00a0\nWe also honor the parents, the wives and husbands, the children and other loved ones of our veterans and our troops.\u00a0 The families left behind face the challenges of daily living as they endure separation and worry.\u00a0 Their sacrifices are great, and we owe them much as well.\nIt is the American character to answer the call of duty.\u00a0 It also is the American character to be grateful to those who answer that call.\u00a0 One has only to look at the Maine Troop Greeters, who have greeted some 1.5 million troops at the Bangor Airport, to know how much the people of our State value our service members.\u00a0 They treat our veterans with similar generosity and a spirit of caring.\nWe owe our veterans so much, and repay that debt in part, but only in part, with the gratitude we express on Veterans Day.\u00a0 As a nation, we must also repay our debt with the health care, rehabilitation services, and educational and employment opportunities our veterans have earned through their service to our country.\u00a0\nI am committed to ensuring that the government keeps that sacred obligation.\u00a0 Initiatives I have undertaken in the Senate this year to help ensure that veterans receive the quality, accessible health care and other benefits they earned through their service include the bipartisan Military and Veteran Caregiver Services Improvement Act that would expand a successful program that helps those who care for wounded, ill, or injured veterans at home.\u00a0\nBeing in the Town of Freedom on Veterans Day brought to mind one of my earliest childhood memories -- going with my father, a World War II veteran, to the patriotic parades in my hometown of Caribou.\u00a0 He hoisted me high on his shoulders, and from the best vantage point along the route, I saw hats go off and hands go over hearts as Caribou paid its respects to our flag and honored our veterans for their service to our country.\nOur veterans provide all of us with an inspiring view from strong shoulders.\u00a0 From that vantage point, we see that the burden of service must be borne willingly and with modesty.\u00a0 We see that challenges must be met and that threats must be confronted.\u00a0 And we see that we have an obligation to always respect, honor, and support those who make that view possible.", 1, 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