Veterans Day has arrived with the glut of discounts, free meals, and saccharine gratitude that seem inadequate compensation for those who were willing to sacrifice their lives to keep their fellow Americans safe. What our veterans, particularly those who served during our latest, quickly forgotten war in Afghanistan, deserve is a sincere apology from the outgoing commander in chief who oversaw the ignominious end of that conflict and the trauma that resonates from it today.

Starting in the months before our withdrawal and as recently as last week, I have spoken with around a hundred veterans about how they were affected by the collapse of the Afghan government. Some veterans, such as an amputee I spoke with just months before August 2021, were distressed when they saw the Taliban acquire territory they and fellow service members had given much to take and hold. Others, such as Afghanistan War veteran Tom Schueman, were dismayed by the failure to find visa pathways for the interpreters who saved lives in harrowing combat zones.