Senator O'Mara offers his weekly perspective on many of the key challenges and issues facing the Legislature, as well as on legislative actions, local initiatives, state programs and policies, and more.  Stop back every Monday for Senator O'Mara's latest column...

This week, "Remembering veterans, honoring freedom"

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.”

These words from former President Ronald Reagan have echoed across the many decades ever since and never more poignantly than on the national observance of Veterans Day, which will take place this Wednesday, November 11.

Fought for. Protected. Handed on. Travel throughout this region’s communities and it’s striking to reflect on the common landmarks standing as reminders of the guiding principles and the underlying and unifying foundations of our nation: town and village halls, county courthouses, churches, elementary schools, community parks, local public libraries.

As we near the end of 2026, a year during which we celebrated America’s 250th Anniversary, and approaching the start of a new year, these fundamental places still recall the very reasons for our nation’s founding and her endurance as the world’s great democracy.

This is especially true of the monuments and memorials that have been raised in memory of our veterans. Indeed, there are no greater or more powerful and meaningful landmarks and on Veterans Day, Americans will gather around them to remember.

Many of us will stand tall and proud at local ceremonies across the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions to honor the sacrifices and the victories of our soldiers -- past, present, and future. In so doing, pride in this nation’s armed forces is reaffirmed and, of course, we turn our thoughts and prayers to those soldiers whom we’ve lost from here at home.

The freedoms we cherish have been hard-fought and hard-won by the soldiers of previous generations and by those of this generation who have continued to serve. They are true American heroes, and we are grateful to each and every one of them.

Sacrifice is the truth that we salute on Veterans Day. This includes the sacrifices of our military families, whom we recognize throughout the month of November during National Military Family Appreciation Month.

To always honor our veterans is also the reason that the New York State Senate established an online Veterans Hall of Fame in 2005. This year, I was proud to induct Denis Oliver, a United States Air Force veteran, long-time Service Officer for the Steuben County Veterans’ Service Agency, and a well-known and respected mainstay of numerous local veterans’ organizations and initiatives, into our Hall of Fame.

At a statewide ceremony in Albany’s Legislative Office Building in May, where more than 60 veterans from across the state were honored, and at home in Bath at the American Legion Post 173 in late September with local family and friends and fellow veterans, we saluted Denis for a lifetime of distinguished military and civilian service.

As I said at the time, “Denis Oliver served our nation with distinction and then devoted his life’s work to looking out for veterans and their families across Steuben County and throughout New York State. Denis has offered an unwavering commitment to the critical work of ensuring that veterans and their families receive the programs and services they deserve, need, and have earned. He is well known and respected for always being there for our veterans and for always going above and beyond to provide assistance. His compassion, excellence, pride, and respect have been a lifeline to countless veterans and families whose quality of life has been improved and strengthened because of Denis. It is a great honor to have this opportunity to induct Denis Oliver into the Senate Veterans Hall of Fame, through which we hope to ensure that military service to our nation and civilian commitment to our local communities and veterans will always be remembered. Denis has impacted the lives of so many veterans and families throughout our region and state, and I am proud to express our collective gratitude and respect for his service.”

You can read more about Denis on my Senate website, omara.nysenate.gov.

In addition to recognition efforts like the Senate’s Hall of Fame, New York State government seeks to constantly honor military service through the development of new laws and the administration of programs and services that seek to address the many challenges facing today’s veterans in areas such as health care, employment, and education. The state Division of Veterans’ Affairs (www.veterans.ny.gov) was established in 1945 to assist veterans, members of the armed forces and their families. Since then, the division -- in concert with its offices in counties locally and statewide -- has strongly advocated for New York’s veterans and veterans’ issues at the local, state, and national levels. It is a proud history of service.

Veterans Day, more than anything else, draws us to those monuments and memorials standing among us that still, and we hope always will, rise to never forget those who have served and sacrificed.

To all those who have served or are serving at this moment, Thank You.

May God Bless America, and May God Bless Our Troops.