Veterans Day is America’s day for saying thanks. The staff at Whole Latte Love joins everyone in saying thank you with the deepest sense of respect and gratitude for the devotion to duty and personal sacrifices that military personnel make to provide us and the rest of the nation the freedom we enjoy. We honor all those still serving, those who never came home, those who come home to an uncertain future in troubled economic times, and those lucky enough to return home to pick up their lives and eventually retire. That they and their loved ones forego a normal family life to protect us and ours does not go unnoticed.

For the past seven years, Whole Latte Love has shown appreciation by sending coffee to Task Force Ironhorse United States Division North to try and provide a comforting “touch of home” for those serving in Iraq.

We also note the number of America's World War II Veterans is rapidly dwindling. Once 16 million strong, U.S. veterans of World War II are dying at a rate of more than 1,000 a day and now only number about 2.5 million, the Department of Veterans Affairs estimates. By 2020 they may all be gone.

The number of Vietnam veteran deaths is approaching 300 a day. That's more than five times the average daily number of U.S. combat deaths during the peak casualty year of the war in 1968.

The personal histories and perspectives of their time in service are being lost. It is important for veteran family members to try and document their service record. Most Veterans have been reluctant to talk about some parts of it, some because they were trained to keep mum about what was happening and many because those memories are painful and hard to express. Talk to a veteran today, listen to thier story and let them know they are respected, admired, and appreciated.