1. On Veterans Day, our Nation pays tribute to those who have proudly served in our Armed Forces.  Read the stories of each of the following soldiers:

• Staff Sgt. James
  Matteson, U.S. Army
• Navy Corpsman Joe Dan
  'Doc' Worley
• Marine Sgt. Jarrett A.
  Kraft
• Marine Corp. Timothy
  Connors
• Marine 1st Lt. Elliot
  Ackerman
• Marine Pvt. Sean Stokes
  and Marine Lance Corp. Heath Kramer
• Marine Lance Corp.
  Christopher Adlesperger
• Staff Sgt. David
  Bellavia, U.S. Army

a) List the characteristics displayed by these men. (scroll to the bottom of this page for possible answers)
b) How has each of these stories inspired you?

2.  Navy Corpsman Worley and Staff Sgt. Bellavia are members of Vets for Freedom. 
(To learn about the work of Vets for Freedom, or to send an email to them, visit the website at VetsForFreedom.org.) 
Re-read the last three paragraphs of this article.  
a) What three groups does Sgt. Bellavia blame for the general lack of recognition paid to our troops' heroic deeds?
b) Should Americans work for public recognition of our troops?  Explain your answer.

3.  The media reports on the number of soldiers killed each day in action.  Should they give equal press to stories of the heroic deeds as well?  Explain your answer.

4.  On this Veterans Day, honor our veterans.  Send an email to your representatives in Congress as well as major media outlets asking them to publish stories of our soldiers' heroic deeds.  If they don't know where to get stories from, suggest that they contact this article's writer, James C. Roberts.

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR CONGRESS AND MEDIA OUTLETS: 
--To contact your representative, go to www.House.gov
--To contact your senators, go to Senate.gov
--To contact the media, go to Congress.org.   NOTE: Congress.org is not a U.S. government website.  It provides websites and email addresses for government officials and media representatives.  We recommend obtaining the website address for the news organization you want to write to, then obtaining the editor, producer, reporter, or anchor's email address directly from that organization's website.
(For further information about Congress.org, click here.) 

SOME POSSIBLE ANSWERS TO QUESTION
#1a:
honorable, self-sacrificing, selfless, dedicated, reliable, steadfast, committed, determined, persevering, courageous, brave, heroic, loyal, ingenious, quick-witted