Veterans Day, 2024

Proclamation 10855 of November 6, 2024

Veterans Day, 2024

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Today, we honor generations of America's veterans--
patriots who have stood on the frontlines of freedom
and kept the light of liberty shining bright around the
world. Just as they have kept the ultimate faith in our
Nation, we must keep ultimate faith in them.

Each one of our Nation's veterans is a link in a chain
of honor that stretches back to our founding days--
bound by a sacred oath to support and defend the United
States of America. Throughout history, whenever and
wherever the forces of darkness have sought to
extinguish the flame of freedom, America's veterans
have been fighting to keep it burning bright. I
remember so clearly the pride the First Lady and I felt
in our son Beau during his service in Iraq. He--like
all our veterans from Belleau Wood, Baghdad, and
Gettysburg to Guadalcanal, Korea, and Kandahar and
beyond--lived, served, and sacrificed by a creed of
duty. We owe them a debt of gratitude we can never
fully repay, not just for fighting for our democracy,
but for giving back to our communities and inspiring
the next generation to serve, even after they hang up
their uniforms.

As a Nation, we have one truly sacred obligation: to
prepare and equip those we send into harm's way and to
care for them and their families when they return home.
Since I came into office, I have signed more than 34
bipartisan laws to support our veterans and their
families, caregivers, and survivors. That includes the
landmark Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring
our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act,
which enacted the most significant expansion of
benefits and services for veterans exposed to toxins in
more than 30 years. Today, more than 1.1 million
veterans and 11,000 survivors of deceased veterans are
now receiving new service-connected disability
benefits, and over 5.8 million veterans have been
screened for toxic exposure--a critical step to
ensuring they get access to the care they need. And as
of last March, any exposed veteran who served during
any conflict outlined in the PACT Act will be able to
enroll in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
health care. My Administration is ensuring that women
veterans enrolled in the Department of Veterans Affairs
health care have equitable access to benefits and
health services. My Administration has worked to reduce
barriers and reach out to veterans to make sure they
can access their earned benefits. As a result, the VA
is delivering more benefits to more veterans than ever
before. In 2024, the VA processed more claims than ever
and is providing record level health care services. We
have taken steps to eliminate barriers and disparities
for all veterans, including people of color, LGBTQI+
people, and women. We have made progress in addressing
veteran homelessness, and we are working to end the
silent scourge of suicide by addressing financial and
legal risk factors, promoting secure storage of
firearms, and expanding access to mental health
services. Last year, the VA housed nearly 48,000
veterans, expanded access to health care and legal
assistance for homeless veterans, and helped more than
158,000 veterans and their families keep their homes.
And we are committed to assisting the roughly 200,000
service members who transition from the military each
year with finding good-paying jobs, including by
connecting them to Registered Apprenticeship programs.
My

Administration has also prioritized supporting veteran
entrepreneurship. This year, service-disabled veteran-
owned small businesses secured almost $32 billion in
Federal contracts, nearly $4 billion more than in the
prior year.

While our veterans are the steel spine of this Nation,
their families are the courageous heart--they also
serve and sacrifice so much for our country. Last year,
I signed an Executive Order calling for the most
comprehensive set of administrative actions in our
Nation's history to support the economic security of
military and veteran spouses, caregivers, and
survivors. The Executive Order increases training and
employment opportunities for military spouses in the
workforce and encourages Federal agencies to do more to
retain military and veteran spouses through flexible
policies. Additionally, through the First Lady's
Joining Forces initiative, my Administration is working
to better support military and veteran families on
everything from making school transitions easier for
military children to expanding economic opportunities
and improving well-being for military spouses,
caregivers, and survivors.

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to visit
Normandy to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day
alongside so many World War II veterans. Their service
and sacrifice helped free the world from tyranny. We
learned then what we still know now: Democracy is never
guaranteed. Every generation must preserve it, defend
it, and fight for it. Today, we honor all our veterans,
who have preserved, defended, and fought for our
democracy. They prove that we are a Nation that can
meet darkness with light again and again, no matter how
high the cost or how heavy the burden. May we all
strive to be worthy of their sacrifices for us, doing
our part to keep the light of liberty burning bright
for generations to come.

In respect and recognition of the contributions our
veterans and their families, caregivers, and survivors
have made to the cause of peace and freedom around the
world, the Congress has provided (5 U.S.C. 6103(a))
that November 11 of each year shall be set aside as a
legal public holiday to honor our Nation's veterans.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of
the United States of America, do hereby proclaim
November 11, 2024, as Veterans Day. I encourage all
Americans to recognize the valor, courage, and
sacrifice of these patriots through appropriate
ceremonies and private prayers and by observing two
minutes of silence for our Nation's veterans. I also
call upon Federal, State, and local officials to
display the flag of the United States of America and to
participate in patriotic activities in their
communities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
sixth day of November, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
ninth.