Veterans Day isn’t just a date on the calendar or an opportunity for discounts and parades. For those who have worn the uniform, like retired Major Mattese Lecque, it represents something far deeper—a solemn recognition of sacrifice, service, and the unbreakable bond shared by those who answered their nation’s call.
As a retired Major (O-4) with the United States Army Reserves, Mattese Lecque understands Veterans Day from the inside. She knows the weight of the uniform, the cost of service, and the profound responsibility that comes with defending freedom. Her perspective on Veterans Day offers not just gratitude, but genuine understanding of what it means to serve.
Through her eyes, we discover the true essence of this sacred day and learn how to honor veterans in ways that genuinely matter.
The Meaning of Veterans Day Through a Veteran’s Eyes
Veterans Day falls on November 11, the anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended World War I. Originally called Armistice Day, the name was changed in 1954 to Veterans Day to recognize veterans of all wars. But for veterans like Mattese, this day holds personal significance that transcends historical facts.
Beyond Parades and Ceremonies
While communities across the United States host parades, ceremonies, speeches, wreath-laying events, concerts, and military displays for Veterans Day, veterans understand that true honor goes deeper than public celebrations. It lives in remembering the fallen, acknowledging the wounded, and supporting those who continue to carry the invisible burdens of service.
Mattese’s military background gives her unique insight into what veterans truly need—not just on Veterans Day, but every day. Recognition matters, but so does understanding the ongoing challenges many veterans face with healthcare, employment, mental health, and reintegration into civilian life.
A Day of Reflection and Gratitude
For Mattese, Veterans Day represents an opportunity for national reflection on the cost of freedom. Every veteran has made sacrifices—time away from family, missed milestones, physical risks, emotional tolls, and sometimes the ultimate sacrifice. We celebrate and honor America’s veterans for their patriotism, love of country and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good.
This willingness to place service above self defines the veteran spirit. It’s what Mattese exemplified throughout her military career and what she now honors in her fellow veterans on this special day.
Mattese Lecque’s Military Journey
Understanding Veterans Day through Mattese’s perspective requires understanding her own journey of service. As a Major in the United States Army Reserves, she served with distinction, embodying the values of duty, honor, and country that define military service.
Leadership Under Pressure
Military leadership demands more than just giving orders—it requires genuine care for those under your command. Mattese learned to lead with both strength and compassion, understanding that effective leadership means investing in people’s wellbeing, development, and success.
These leadership principles didn’t end when she retired from military service. They continue to shape how she approaches her work as an author, healthcare professional, and advocate for transformation and resilience.
Sacrifice and Service
Like all veterans, Mattese made significant sacrifices during her service. Time away from loved ones, personal goals postponed, comfort and safety surrendered—these are the hidden costs of the uniform that civilians rarely see or understand.
Veterans Day offers civilians a glimpse into this sacrifice and provides an opportunity to express genuine gratitude for the freedoms secured through military service.
The Transition to Civilian Life
One of the least understood aspects of military service is the challenge of transitioning back to civilian life. Mattese successfully navigated this transition, retiring not only from the military but also from an executive position with the Department of Justice. Her journey demonstrates that veterans possess tremendous skills and resilience that continue serving communities long after they remove the uniform.
How to Truly Honor Veterans on Veterans Day
Mattese’s perspective as both veteran and author provides valuable insights into meaningful ways to honor military service.
Genuine Gratitude Over Empty Gestures
Simply saying “thank you for your service” isn’t enough if those words don’t translate into genuine support. True honor requires understanding, advocacy, and action that improves veterans’ lives beyond a single day.
This means supporting veteran-owned businesses, advocating for veteran healthcare, hiring veterans, mentoring transitioning service members, and voting for policies that genuinely serve those who served us.
Remember the Fallen, Support the Living
Veterans Day honors all who served, but it particularly calls us to remember those who never returned home. Mattese emphasizes the importance of keeping their memory alive while actively supporting living veterans who continue to face challenges.
Many veterans struggle with physical injuries, traumatic stress, unemployment, homelessness, and isolation. Veterans Day should renew our commitment to addressing these ongoing needs, not just with words but with sustained action and resources.
Understand the Broader Impact
Military service doesn’t just affect the service member—it impacts entire families. Spouses sacrifice careers and stability, children grow up with deployed parents, and families endure stress and uncertainty. Honoring veterans means acknowledging and supporting military families as well.
Mattese’s work emphasizes the importance of community, support systems, and recognizing that no one serves alone. Every veteran has a network of people who sacrificed alongside them.
Veterans Day and Legacy: Mattese’s Perspective
Mattese’s focus on legacy provides a powerful framework for understanding Veterans Day’s deeper significance.
Service Creates Lasting Impact
Military service creates legacy that extends far beyond individual careers. Veterans protect freedoms that enable others to pursue dreams, raise families, build businesses, and live without fear. This protective legacy is Veterans Day’s foundation.
Mattese teaches that when you experience obstacles in life, you can overcome and still succeed. This message resonates particularly with veterans who face unique challenges in civilian life. Their service created legacy; their continued resilience multiplies it.
Transforming Military Experience into Community Impact
Many veterans, like Mattese, transform their military experience into continued service to their communities. Leadership skills, discipline, resilience, and commitment to mission translate powerfully into civilian roles.
Mattese’s transition from Major to healthcare professional to Department of Justice executive to transformative author demonstrates how military service creates foundation for lifelong impact. Veterans Day celebrates not just past service but ongoing contributions veterans make to society.
Honoring Those Who Paved the Way
Veterans Day connects generations of service members. Mattese stands on the shoulders of those who served before her—from World War I soldiers whose armistice created this holiday, to every generation since who answered the call.
Similarly, her service paves the way for future generations. This intergenerational connection is what makes Veterans Day so powerful—it’s not just about one war or one generation, but about the continuous chain of sacrifice that protects our nation.
The Veteran Spirit: Resilience and Transformation
Mattese’s work emphasizes resilience and transformation—qualities deeply embedded in the veteran experience.
Overcoming Adversity
Military service teaches people how to overcome obstacles, adapt to challenges, and persevere through difficulty. These aren’t just military skills—they’re life skills that veterans carry into civilian life.
Mattese’s message that it doesn’t matter if you were born with nothing or what mistakes you made—you can overcome—resonates powerfully with veterans who understand that circumstances don’t define destiny. Their service proved that determination and commitment can overcome any obstacle.
Faith as Foundation
For many veterans, including Mattese, faith provides the foundation for service and sacrifice. Her book “You Can’t Make Me Doubt Him” explores how unwavering spiritual belief sustains people through their darkest moments.
Veterans Day acknowledges that many service members draw strength from faith, and that spiritual resilience often carries them through the trials of military life and beyond.
Creating Meaning from Difficulty
Mattese teaches about transforming pain into purpose and creating legacy from challenges. This message speaks directly to veterans processing their service experiences—both positive and difficult.
Veterans Day provides opportunity for veterans to reflect on how their service, with all its challenges, created meaning and contributed to something larger than themselves.
A Call to Action: Making Veterans Day Matter
As we approach each Veterans Day, Mattese’s perspective challenges us to move beyond symbolic gestures toward meaningful support.
Support Throughout the Year
True honor doesn’t begin and end on November 11. Veterans need consistent support—quality healthcare, employment opportunities, mental health resources, and community integration assistance.
Make Veterans Day the catalyst for year-round commitment to veteran wellbeing. Volunteer with veteran organizations, donate to veteran causes, hire veterans, mentor transitioning service members, and advocate for veteran-supporting policies.
Listen to Veterans’ Stories
Every veteran has a story. Veterans Day offers opportunity to listen—really listen—to these experiences. Ask veterans in your life about their service, but respect boundaries around difficult memories.
Mattese’s writing demonstrates the power of sharing authentic stories. When veterans feel safe sharing their experiences, it helps them process their service while educating others about military life’s realities.
Teach the Next Generation
Children need to understand why Veterans Day matters. It’s not just a day off school—it’s recognition of sacrifice that protects their freedom. Use Veterans Day to teach young people about service, sacrifice, and gratitude.
Share veteran stories, attend ceremonies together, and help children understand the connection between military service and the freedoms they enjoy daily.
Live the Values Veterans Defended
The best way to honor veterans is by living out the values they defended—freedom, justice, equality, service, and commitment to common good. Veterans didn’t sacrifice for empty gestures; they served to protect a way of life and values worth defending.
Make your life a tribute to their service by being a responsible citizen, serving your community, standing up for justice, and contributing to the common good.
Conclusion
Veterans Day, viewed through Mattese Lecque’s experienced eyes, becomes more than a holiday—it transforms into a sacred responsibility. Those who have served deserve more than one day of recognition; they deserve lifelong gratitude expressed through genuine support and action.
As a retired Major, successful healthcare professional, Department of Justice executive, and transformative author, Mattese exemplifies the veteran spirit—resilient, purpose-driven, and committed to creating lasting positive impact.
This Veterans Day, let’s honor her service and the service of all veterans by committing to meaningful action. Listen to their stories. Support their needs. Advocate for their wellbeing. Live the values they defended.
Veterans gave their time, safety, comfort, and sometimes their lives to protect our freedom. The least we can do is ensure Veterans Day translates into genuine, sustained support for those who served.
Thank you, Major Lecque, and thank you to all veterans who answered the call to serve. Your sacrifice will never be forgotten. Your legacy will endure. Your service matters every single day, not just on Veterans Day.
