They left home behind, trading in comforts you and I take for granted to take on hostility in a number of countries.

They are our military veterans and they deserve our thanks.

Veterans Day is Friday, one day of the year set aside to publicly show our gratitude to and thank our veterans for their years of sacrifice, dedication and the willingness to put themselves in harm’s way in the name of American ideals.

They battled in Europe and in the South Pacific in World War II; on peninsulas in Asia in Korea and Vietnam; in the deserts of the Middle East during Desert Storm and during conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. They took that burden upon themselves so the majority of the population didn’t have to.

The date itself is significant. Nov. 11, 1918 was the day the Armistice ending hostilities in World War I was signed. President Woodrow Wilson declared “Armistice Day” a year later. It continued for many years as such until Alvin King, a shoe repairman in Kansas, got the idea to expand it to include all veterans, not just those who died in WWI. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed it into law in 1954 and after a congressional amendment, it became known as Veterans Day.

So on this day, find a veteran and tell them thanks for what they did to ensure you have the ability to do whatever it is you love to do.

And if you want to thank them during any of the other 364 days on the calendar, that would probably be OK, too.