There are a handful of days throughout the year that we as a society take a moment to stop and think about the men and women who have agreed to serve the United States in the Armed Forces. This week we observe Memorial Day, a day when we remember those heroes in our military who gave their lives so that our freedom and republic can live another day.

At Glassman & Zissimopulos Law, our work in the Gainesville community and all around North Central Florida has allowed us to meet a number of veterans and active duty service members. We have handled car crashes for service members. We have handled wrongful death and major trucking collisions for families with concerned members who had to be deployed during our representation. We have even stood with veterans and military personnel accused of crimes.

It is easy to remember the sacrifice that military members and their families make a few times a year. The far more difficult challenge is to have compassion and understand how that sacrifice forever affects their lives and our society.

A stark reality exists about those who serve our country. As this article points out, the overwhelming majority (like more than 90% of us) have never served in any military capacity. This means that a very small minority of people are agreeing to put themselves in harm’s way to defend the United States. Couple that with the ever-expanding reality of the physical and emotional harms that can occur to our military personnel, and some significant challenges for our society start to emerge.  

Thankfully, many leaders in the legal community have started to note these issues, and some really good programs are beginning to form. Alachua County, along with many other counties and judicial circuits in Florida, have introduced diversion programs known as Veteran’s Court.

Every time anyone at Glassman & Zissimopulos Law takes a case, we consider whether our clients are serving or have ever served in the military. The unique and complex challenges for our military personnel should definitely be remembered on special days like Memorial Day, but we truly believe that it is equally important to remember the sacrifice of our armed forces every day of the year.