Colorado Springs Considers Every Day Veterans Day

Veterans Day is here again. A time to remember the fallen, honor the living, and give thanks to those who have served or continue to serve in the military.
Colorado Springs is a military town. With 5 bases here (the US Air Force Academy, Fort Carson, Norad, Peterson Air Force Base and Shriever Air Force Base), we have somewhere upwards of 50,000 active duty military personnel calling Colorado Springs home at any given time. Considering that a significant portion of the Air Force officer corps come through the academy, there is a large number of veterans that have lived in Colorado Springs at one time or another. A recent study by Livability.com rated Colorado Springs as the #2 place in the US for veterans.
The city is full of special privileges for active duty (with ID of course), but the bases in particular have some perks for veterans, including PX, BX, health care clinics, recreation facilities and more. Livability.com lists some of its own perspectives too. Statjump.com also tracks the cities with the highest percentage of veterans, and they show Colorado Springs at #14 with 20.2% of the population having served.
Colorado Springs also does a good job honoring our vets. The annual parades, participation in city activities by military units, even church services with military honor guards, give you the sense that the town really appreciates the sacrifices that military families face every day.
So happy Veterans Day, and many thanks to all of you who have served and continue to do, and to your families for all the sacrifices they make. This year Veterans Day is extra special to our own family, as we just found out that our son (who is a veteran and was stationed at Ft Carson at one point) is returning home from Afghanistan, where he has been working as a contractor for the last 18 months. We are very grateful for his safe return, and appreciate all the effort it takes for our military to keep he and his co-workers safe.