As we emerge from a controversial and in many ways toxic presidential campaign, it is important to recognize that regardless of who we supported, however differently we may view the issues that politicians sought to use in an attempt to divide us, we remain one nation, one people. We are still Americans first, deeply rooted in the wars we have fought that have kept us united and strong, and in the sacrifices we cherish of the hundreds of thousands who have died to preserve our freedoms since 1775 .

Election day is over. At the time of writing, the outcome of the presidential election is unknown. But in less than a week we will celebrate Veterans Day, the 11th day of the 11th month at the 11th hour more than 100 years ago, when the guns of August finally fell silent, to borrow from the late Barbara Tuchman’s seminal work from 1962 on how we entered the so-called war to end all wars. World War I, of course, did not end all wars, but it is part of the fabric of patriotism and self-sacrifice that binds us together.

Let us draw on this benchmark of courage and sacrifice to assuage the disappointments, blame, fear, and/or anger that some of us may feel as election results come in and are confirmed.

Let us remember the ties that unite us and not divide us. Let’s look at why Americans have always answered the call of duty and sacrifice when our freedoms were at stake. These sacrifices are recorded in the memories and monuments of our own families and communities, from Arlington National Cemetery to Washington National Cemetery. the Ohio Western Reserve in Seville to virtually every cemetery in Greater Cleveland and our own Soldiers and Sailors Monument in downtown Cleveland.

Look again at the memorial signs along our highways for those valiant men and women of Greater Cleveland who volunteered and fell after 9/11. Remember the “Eyes of Freedom” memorial dedicated to the 23 Marines from Lima Co., based in Brook Park, of the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Reserve Regiment, who fell in Iraq in 2005. In 2014, their life-size portraits was on display in the Rotunda of the Ohio Statehouse — a powerful reminder of everything we owe to our men and women in uniform.

According to a Department of Veterans Affairs information sheetas of November 2019, there are more than 19 million living U.S. veterans. Nearly 15 million of them were veterans, or about one for every 22 Americans then alive.

From 1775 to 1991, more than 42 million Americans served in war and more than a million died. After the September 11 attacks, we recommitted ourselves to service, and more than 27,000 young Americans have died in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen and elsewhere. That doesn’t count the brave passengers who sacrificed themselves on United Flight 91.

These sacrifices and what they tell us about ourselves as Americans provide powerful reasons to cherish and prioritize patriotic instincts, love of country, concern for our neighbors – whatever their politics – which sound much more powerful than angry speeches. and the accusation.

So, as the results of the 2024 elections come in or are confirmed, let’s try to put aside any triumphalism or anger, recriminations or accusations, disappointment or harsh words. Let us be patient, thoughtful, slow to accuse and careful to seek the facts, and not subscribe to accusations and unproven assertions.

Let us believe in the best of the one who will lead us over the next four years, thus helping to ensure that the best happens. And let us all find our better angels in our history, in our heroes, in our own families, and in the sacrifices recorded over generations.

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