The day after I left Afghanistan, I learned that a suicide bomb had detonated near the compound where I had lived and worked. A soldier I knew, who I once rode with to deliver supplies to a Kabul orphanage, was killed in the attack. I thought of him, now resting at Arlington Cemetery, as I paid my respects to the fallen at the New Hampshire State Veterans Cemetery.

I was lucky, not just in returning home physically unharmed but in being comparatively well-equipped to return from my deployment. My arrival back in the United States was marked by flags, balloons, and handshakes. I had a civilian job and a community waiting for me. Others return bearing the wounds of war, visible and invisible, while battling bureaucracy to receive care. Many veterans struggle to find work or find their place in their families and their communities.

America deserves a Commander-in-Chief who knows what that sacrifice means and will honor the sacred promise we make to our veterans. My administration will support veterans and their families throughout their military journey, provide the care they have earned to heal the wounds of war, and engage all Americans to welcome service members back into their communities and ensure that they can thrive.

First, we will stand with our active-duty service members and their families, as they sacrifice to defend our country. The strength of our military families is crucial to readiness and retention. We will ensure that every child of a military family has access to high-quality early learning and child care, and train teachers to help students who move frequently feel like they belong in school. We�ll pause student loan repayment and provide targeted transition and reintegration programs, to unlock the potential of military spouses. We will also ensure that no immigrant veteran will be subject to unlawful deportation, and no transgender service member subject to discharge as they put their lives on the line to protect our country.

Second, when service members return from active duty, we will heal the wounds of war and guarantee them the health care they have earned. A majority of veterans do not receive health care through the Veterans Administration, and half a million veterans don�t have any health insurance at all. Through Medicare For All Who Want It, we�ll make sure that every veteran has access to quality and affordable care. It�s also long past time we streamline and modernize the chronically understaffed VA. So we will implement an electronic health system responsive to the real needs of veterans and establish a White House coordinator to work with VA and the Defense Department to eliminate confusing and duplicative paperwork that is an obstacle to care.

We�ll reach out to rural and aging veterans in innovative ways, and extend Vietnam veterans the respect and care too many were denied when they came home to a nation that had not yet learned to separate its feeling about a war from its attitude toward those who served. And with 20 veterans and active-duty service members dying by suicide every day, we will devote every available resource to address the epidemic of veteran suicide.

Third, we will ensure returning veterans and their families have every opportunity to thrive, from ending veteran homelessness to cracking down on predatory lending targeted at veterans. But this cannot be the obligation of the federal government alone--we must enlist every American to ensure that veterans and their families can find purpose and belonging in their communities. It�s something we�ve seen in South Bend, where we were one of three communities to pilot our Veterans Community Connections program. Local volunteers help anyone coming off active duty navigate their way around our community. Not just finding a job, but a good dentist, haircut, or a soccer lesson for their kid. And when our communities embrace veterans, veterans enrich our communities. From responding to natural disasters, to starting small businesses, to running for elected office, America�s veterans prove every day that they are not a problem to be solved, but talent to be competed for.

When we encounter veterans, especially on Veterans Day, we often reflexively offer a �Thank you for your service.� It is time we express our nation�s gratitude not only in our words but in our actions.

Democrat Pete Buttigieg is a veteran, mayor of South Bend, Indiana and candidate for president of the United States.