Today is just another day for hundreds of thousands of Americans. It's likely that as you are reading this, some of them are patrolling streets in Iraqi cities while others are carefully driving down a dusty mountain road in Afghanistan on alert for enemy fire.

In scores of other places around the globe - in ships at sea, air bases where warplanes stand ready to go, and military posts where "readiness" can have a life-or-death importance - today is much like any other day for American men and women in uniform.

It is different here at home.

Today is Veterans Day, set aside for Americans as a nation to honor living military veterans.

More than 23 million military veterans live in the United States. There are more than 1 million in New York state alone. Fulton, Montgomery and Hamilton counties are home to more than 10,000 veterans. Fulton County has 5,160 of them, Montgomery County has 4,500 and Hamilton County has 674, according to Frank Ruggiero, Fulton County Veterans Service Agency director.

He doesn't expect the number of veterans to decline in light of the conflicts around the world and the recent expansion of educational benefits for people who serve in the military. "More and more young people are going into the military," Ruggiero said.

Veterans Day recognizes the fact that those who survive military service make enormous sacrifices. They dedicate themselves to ensuring our safety and preserving our liberties. Often, they endure hardships simply inconceivable to those who have not served. They hone skills to a level far beyond what many of us in civilian jobs can imagine. They recognize that failure to be ready can have terrible ramifications - for themselves, their comrades in arms and their nation.

Today, we pause to honor our military veterans - to say "thank you." We know how inadequate our expressions of gratitude are in the context of what they do and have done, but still, we join today - a very special day - in saluting them. They've earned our heartfelt, enduring gratitude.