Each Wednesday, L’Observateur recognizes individuals and businesses in the River Parishes who have gone “above and beyond” in their efforts to make this a better place to live, work, play and raise a family.

This week’s salute is for all the men and women who have given their time, effort and sometimes lives for our freedoms – our local veterans.

Veterans are never difficult to spot in a crowd.

They wear their age with pride, each wrinkle a symbol of victory, each scar a badge of honor from a time that would define their lives and in some cases, generation. Often, they wear some remembrance of their time in the service, whether it is an old medal or something that identifies them as a member of a local VFW chapter.

Those that are still able retain their rigid posture, perhaps fearing an old colonel is around the corner.

On Thursday, the country pauses before the onset of the annual holiday insanity to pay homage to its veterans. All the River Parishes have scheduled some sort of celebration, either today or tomorrow. See the story on page 1A for details.

The recognition for those who have served in the armed forces is well deserved. Veterans initially fought for freedom and for the past two centuries have fought to preserve that ideal. Without their sacrifices, without their blood being spilled in the name of freedom, a political event like this past Tuesday night where people were able to voice their anger with the current administration through their vote would not exist.

So many of the freedoms we take for granted would still be a political dream if not for the sacrifices of not only the earliest of veterans but for the hundreds of thousands of young men and women who through the years left their youth on an obscure battlefield to preserve the ideals that define our country.

Freedom continues to be under attack from a number of fronts and even from within. Without the continued dedication of our veterans, without their commitment to protecting freedom at any cost, our way of life would be jeopardized.

So we salute all of those veterans who served not for the glory, but for the preservation of Old Glory.