As a Veteran, I appreciate that.
The Veterans we
really need to thank today are those who served with the Washington's Continental Army -- 15% of whom were 'black' -- during the Revolution and stuck with it thru think and thin until -- finally -- they won some battles against the British and Prussian troops. The Continental Army was consisted mainly of farmers, and when those farmers could (and perhaps should) have left the army and gone back to work and save their farms, they didn't. They instead chose to stick with General Washington.
Without *those* veterans, the War for Independence would have been LOST, and with it the Freedom we enjoy today.
... and their diet consisted mainly of turnips.