U.S. Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) last week unveiled a bipartisan resolution that would designate Oct. 26 as a day of recognition honoring all U.S. service members currently deployed overseas and the families who support them at home.
House Resolution 828, which Rep. Bacon cosponsored on Oct. 24 alongside sponsor U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell (D-MO), would designate Oct. 26 as Day of the Deployed to recognize the more than two million individuals who serve as members of the U.S. Armed Forces, including the reserve components and the several hundred thousand members who currently serve overseas in every region of the world.
“The American men and women who are deployed around the globe to protect and defend our national interests are the front lines of defense for our democracy,” said Rep. Bacon. “The all-volunteer force underpins everything we hold sacred as a nation, and the fact that they and their families sacrifice so much for our freedoms is a testament to their dedication. This recognition of the ‘Day of the Deployed’ is the least we can do for them.”
The resolution also points out that in the decades following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, members of the Armed Forces deployed in two major conflicts and countless operations around the world, and their service and bravery helped protect the United States from further terrorist attacks.
The resolution would resolve that the U.S. House of Representatives supports a Day of the Deployed; honors the deployed members of the Armed Forces and their families; calls on Americans to reflect on their service, wherever the members serve, past, present, and future; and encourages Americans to observe the Day of the Deployed with appropriate ceremonies and activities, according to its text.
“Behind every service-member serving abroad is a family that serves alongside them,” Rep. Bell said. “A national day of recognition for their service and for their families is a simple but meaningful way to say thank you — to acknowledge their courage, commitment, and sacrifice, and to remind the country that freedom requires service, both seen and unseen.”
The resolution has been referred for consideration to the U.S. House Armed Services Committee.