Nov. 11 is a day to celebrate all generations of veterans and their families. It's an opportunity to honor grandfathers and grandmothers, moms and dads, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters and battle buddies as our American family recognizes those who put their lives at risk and, in many instances, suffered life-changing injuries for our freedoms.

We will celebrate them all: Those few left who fought the ``Great War'' of World War I, the ``Greatest Generation'' of World War II, our heroes of the Vietnam, Korean and Gulf wars and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. And let's not forget all the veterans who served in peace time and those who placed themselves into harm's way in answering our country's call in the numerous other, sometimes forgotten, conflicts.

Together, all generations of veterans as a group represent our nation's indelible commitment to sustaining and advancing freedom and democracy.

Together, we are also a network of leadership, support and inspiration for each other. Perhaps it's that sister or brother veteran who is the first person you see when you wake up in that hospital bed, ready with a word of encouragement and vital help to obtain the quality healthcare and benefits you've earned to get back into life.

This is also a day for opportunities, beyond this special moment in our calendar; opportunities to give back throughout the year to those few who have given so much for so many.

For those of us who have served and live with our sacrifices every day as paralyzed veterans, we need you now more than ever. We need you to help ensure that we don't just live free, but live free with dignity and empowerment. Here are just some ways you can help:

• If you are grateful to our veterans and their families, please take a minute to thank them for their service. Your word of thanks could be the encouragement they need to take the next step to living an even more full, productive life.

• If you're a leader, from our president and Congress to our mayors and county officials, use your leadership to do something good every day for veterans. We appreciate that the administration and Congress have worked for a historic budget increase for Veterans Administration healthcare and the recent enactment of the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act, which makes the healthcare programs administered by VA an advance appropriation. The VA will get its funding on time, and our veterans will get healthcare in a timely manner.

But while the good news is that the number of troops coming home now with paralyzing injuries will be in the hundreds rather than the thousands as from previous wars, the challenges they will face will be enormous. They need our leaders to step up more than ever to help and empower them.

• If you are an architect or a builder, please make America more wheelchair accessible. Our veterans with disabilities who have fought for the land of the free, deserve a land that is completely barrier free.

• If you are in a position to hire people, help veterans with disabilities return to the work force. Paralyzed Veterans of America's (www.pva.org) vocational rehabilitation program, a public-private partnership, is empowering hundreds of veterans with the services and counseling they need to get good jobs and careers, and matches them with employers with vacancies.

As we honor all veterans, let's take a minute in our busy lives to think about the opportunities to make every day a day for veterans. We honor you for always caring about us.

Gene A. Crayton, U.S. Navy (Ret.)., is national president of Paralyzed Veterans of America.

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