"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation."
- President George Washington

These words of our first President echo to us from across time to remind us that freedom and liberty come at the highest of prices, human life. Our nation’s founders, and the countless veterans of our nation’s military forces who have come after them, have believed in the perpetual nature of our Declaration of Independence, and have been willing to lay down their lives for the innocent in defense of our peace.

As our nation struggles once again against those who would like to take our liberty away from us, it is important not to forget the real contributions of our military veterans of past conflicts so their sacrifices are not left to the whims of historians far removed.

One of the greatest (and most understated) endeavors undertaken by our nation’s military forces in the past 100 years has been the period of world history known as the Cold War. This military conflict raged for 46 years and engulfed the world stage with imminent threats of nuclear annihilation and the ending of the human race. Never has the world been so close to such catastrophic environmental disaster.

The good news is that through the actions of over 20 million dedicated men and women veterans of the United States military, and our allies, this nuclear threat and the aggression of the communist Soviet Union were defeated. The Cold War was won and our peace was once again secured.

It’s hard to imagine, but throughout the years of the Cold War (from Sept. 1945 – Dec. 1991) approximately 114,000 veterans were killed and approximately 260,000 were wounded. For them the physical conflict is over, but for the approximately 10,000 families of those still officially listed as Missing in Action, their loss may never be given closure.

No one believes that war should be waged without due regard for the terrible outcomes of the accompanying human suffering, least of all the veterans who are asked to undertake it, but believing in the virtue of service, these veterans came forward when they were called upon to do their duty. Sometimes when they returned they were lauded as heroes, and sometimes they have been mistreated and called “baby-killers” by the misinformed, and sometimes they did not return at all, but still they did their duty, not for politicians’ sake, but for the sake of our people.

For all of us alive today who call America home, and for our children and their posterity, it is important that we hand down to them a valid memory of the contributions made by earlier Americans so that history can be used as a tool to help guide them to a more peaceful future.

To this end, several attempts over the past few years have been made at securing appropriate recognition for the contributions of Cold War veterans. All of these have been stalled or have been derailed by politicians seeking self-gratification rather than citizen-gratification.

Now, the Cold War Veterans Association, a 501(c)(19) Non-Profit National Veterans Service Organization recognized by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, along with other veterans organizations, is asking for your help.

We plan on delivering directly to the doorstep of the Oval Office this signed non-partisan Petition to the President of the United States so that your voice on behalf of our veterans will be heard loud and clear. As Commander in Chief, the President is empowered and is ethically responsible for ensuring the honor of the military veterans of our nation.

By signing this petition you can exercise some of the freedom given to you by our Constitution. The freedom to effect change in the way our politicians do business. Your voice makes it possible to deny any self-serving politicians a clear and unhindered path for their personal agendas, and helps to perpetuate the founding rule of democracy, the citizen agenda.

Thanks in advance for supporting our veterans. The full petition is outlined below for your convenience and we invite you to spread the word about our efforts and include your own comments of support.

A Petition to the President of the United States of America

Mr. President,

We, the undersigned citizens of the United States of America, fervently desiring to ensure that the military veterans of our nation, and their memory are honored appropriately, and in accordance with the established laws and traditions of our nation, due hereby call upon you to fulfill your duty as Commander-in-Chief of the United States military by undertaking the following actions without delay:

1. Officially proclaim the timeframe of Sept. 2, 1945 through Dec. 26, 1991, and all military operations that fall within this time as The Cold War, and instruct all federal government departments to add the Cold War to their historical records as an official military conflict of the United States of America.

2. Officially proclaim that the United States and its allies won the Cold War, and designate May 1st of each year (the former Soviet Union’s “May Day”) as Cold War Victory Day within the United States of America, its territories, and possessions.

3. Create by Executive Order, a uniform-wearable federal military medal to be known as the Cold War Victory Medal to commemorate our nation’s Cold War victory and to directly honor those military veterans who answered the call and served their country during the Cold War.

In support of our petition we offer for your consideration the following facts:

• The President of the United States is designated by our Constitution and the laws of the United States as the Commander-In-Chief of this nation’s military forces, with no one having an equal or higher military rank.

• It is the duty of every United States military commander to ensure the morale, welfare, and honor of the soldiers, sailors, marines, or airmen entrusted to their command.

• It is the established tradition of the United States military to create and award suitable medals and other uniform-wearable appurtenances appropriate to the occasion to honor those military veterans who have served their nation.

• In keeping with this tradition, our military has established the precedence of creating and issuing awards known as Victory Medals at the end of wartime operations to those veterans who qualify.

• The United States and its allies undertook global military operations known as The Cold War, beginning at the end of World War II in September of 1945 and ending with the fall of the communist government of the Soviet Union in December of 1991, in order to protect and defend the United States and the free peoples of the world from Soviet-led aggression and communist expansion.

• During that time over 20,000,000 members of the United States military conducted both direct and indirect operations in support of our nation’s Cold War efforts.

• Official Defense Department Cold War records indicate that approximately 114,000 veterans were killed, 260,000 were wounded, and current estimates from the United States Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) record over 10,000 military personnel still unaccounted for and listed as Missing in Action.

• On July 1, 1999, the State of Louisiana, recognizing the service of their citizen military veterans of the Cold War, created and is awarding the Louisiana Cold War Victory Medal to qualifying members of their state national guard components.

• On July 27, 2000 the Congress of the United States awarded former President Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy Reagan the Congressional Gold Medal (our nation’s highest civilian honor). One reason for the award was, “President Ronald Reagan's leadership was instrumental in uniting a divided world by bringing about an end to the cold war.”

• The Congress of the United States included in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2002 the specific language, “It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Defense should consider authorizing the issuance of a campaign medal, to be known as the Cold War Service Medal, to each person who, while a member of the Armed Forces, served satisfactorily on active duty during the Cold War.” (To date the Secretary of Defense has not satisfactorily carried out this official recommendation.)

• In a speech in June 2002, at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and again in June 2004, at the United States Air Force Academy, President George W. Bush validated the Cold War as a war against a determined armed enemy of the United States and also stated that the United States was among the nations that ensured our victory and won the Cold War.

• In 2004, the Governors of the States of Arizona, Florida, Wisconsin, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, New Jersey, Texas, Tennessee, Michigan, Nebraska, Kansas, and Ohio, officially proclaimed May 1, 2004, as Cold War Victory Day.

• On May 28, 2004, the Governor of the State of Massachusetts signed into law legislation that officially recognizes veterans of the Cold War as having equal benefit status as military veterans of other war periods.

• Veterans of the Cold War, and their family members and friends, are reluctant to continue to vote for candidates who will not appropriately honor the memory of Cold War Veterans.