On Friday, Nov. 11, 2022, the 69th annual National Veterans Day Observance will be celebrated at Arlington National Cemetery. At the Memorial Amphitheater, the secretary of Veterans Affairs will host the observance ceremony following the wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. According to the cemetery’s website, Vice President Kamala Harris will lay the wreath. That’s right, Kamala Harris.

It’s high time we stopped the practice of politicians using the backdrop of this hallowed ground to score political points by “honoring” those who served, and still serve, our country in uniform. Both parties have been guilty of this. Why don’t we depoliticize this event by each year selecting a retired member of our armed forces to read aloud the speech that still stands as the greatest tribute to the members of our armed forces? I’m referring to Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s “Duty, Honor, Country” address, given to the cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1962.