Every year on Veteran’s Day I think of my brother Ezra, who served among the Marines in Iraq and thankfully carries no bodily wounds from that war. I look at smiling pictures from his time in uniform and wonder about the many unpictured moments that he and other veterans carry inside. We have a sense from news coverage of Ukraine and Gaza of the terrible, ungodly cost of war, but what we see is only a fraction of what is done. What wounding have American veterans caused and witnessed? What wounds do they carry—within and without—from their time of service? How can a country express lifelong caring mercy to veterans and their families, while also committing our whole selves to the causes of peace?

Today I happened upon this video from the Poetry Foundation, setting three poems into an animated, compelling story set in World War I. The visuals and soundscape help me immerse in the realities of war, and the inner wounds that veterans carry from what they’ve experienced. The poems are from a century ago, but they (especially as set in this new artwork) capture the raw experience of all war. If you do nothing else today to observe Veteran’s Day, consider watching this. The eight minutes will be well worth your while—they brought me to healing, cathartic tears.

This year on Veteran’s Day I’m recalling a new friend I made while volunteering this past month in Coon Rapids. Maria showed up looking for something meaningful to do in support of Democrats on the ballot and went doorknocking for the first time with us from Faith in Minnesota. I saw her gamely learn new technology, soon approach doors on her own, and initiate conversations about how best to serve the future of our communities. Her service as a veteran came up in our conversations and with neighbors at the doors, as she made common cause with other moderate veterans who couldn’t stomach how Donald Trump disparaged those who have served or died in uniform. The next time we went doorknocking, Maria was back with the team, this time befriending and coaching another new female volunteer. I hope and believe their connection may become a lasting friendship among kindred spirits in the north metro, thanks to their shared service.

I saw in Maria—and I know from Ezra—a spirit of willingness to do hard work for the sake of a greater goal. I won’t be enlisting in armed military service, but I will continue to enlist in the hard work of building a multiracial, multifaith movement for community, justice and joy. America’s veterans bear witness to the vast harms of war, yet they also put such experiences to work for serving community and family in other ways. Today especially, I’m grateful for their service and committed to keep making a world worthy of their sacrifices.