Notice must be taken

Thank you, King County, Washington, and the Washington Department of Veterans Affairs for sponsoring the conference "Serving Returning Veterans: A Community Response to Trauma."  (King County has a levy to provide funds for veteran services.  May other counties follow their excellent lead.)  The conference, held in Seatac, Washington on October 28th and 29th, was a wonderful opportunity to hear about the experiences of veterans and their needs.  Several speakers reminded us that when we as a nation send men and women off to war, we assume a permanent obligation to provide support when they return.  I have noticed many articles lately about how the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were largely ignored during the recent election campaign, and are receiving less public attention in general.  If we who have not served in the military owe a duty to those who do, perhaps the first part of this debt is our attention.  We can take the time to look for news about Iraq and Afghanistan, and about veterans here at home.  IAVA, the Iraq/Afghanistan veterans group, provides a daily news brief on their website and via email which collects relevant stories from a variety of news sources.