This nation needs to pull together. On this Memorial Day, we need to consider the power of teamwork represented by our military veterans’ efforts to keep us safe.

I learned this firsthand. I am veteran from a family of veterans. I served as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force. My husband, John, is highly decorated Vietnam War pilot. My stepson has served three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan as an A10 pilot. My father served in World War II, as did an aunt and uncle. Another uncle served in Korea.

Teamwork is a fundamental lesson in the military. At basic training, you learn about being a member of a unit. You do not focus on the first person to cross the finish line. You do not focus on the last person to cross the finish line. What matters most – what matters entirely – is that every unit member understands that everyone crosses the finish line.

When you leave basic training, you leave knowing that you are part of and responsible for your unit, your team. You and a teammate may not like each other, but you will protect him, and he would do the same for you.

That’s a lesson we seem to have forgotten. That we are all in this together.  

So badly are we divided that we have forgotten that first and foremost we are Americans. And we need to work together. The example of military training, of sharing the load and learning that everyone must cross the finish line, could help us find what we as a nation seem to have lost.

Nowhere do you feel the power of shared sacrifice more than in a military cemetery. Gravestone after gravestone are the names of those who died for a cause greater than themselves, standing at mute attention, a silent roll call of team members who fell and are not forgotten.

Looking across the thousand upon thousand graves at the Normandy American Cemetery, gazing out across the English Channel, then called back to the hallowed place by the wind snapping and flourishing the Star and Stripes – it takes your breath away. It is almost beyond imagination to realize the bravery of these men.

The entrenched German gun positions set on the hills above Omaha and Utah beaches cut down man after man plunging off the Allied Higgins boats into the surf. As they fell others pushed onward. The photos from D-Day show the toll the assault took, but the Allies landed, held and moved out. It was perhaps the greatest team effort of our time.

In Arlington National Cemetery, you cannot help feel the sense of debt we have for the men and women at rest. The sad solemn honor that comes with following a widow walking behind the horse-drawn caisson to the gravesite weighs on you to the point of tears, then the 21-gun salute shatters the silence giving way to the roar of jets flying overhead in the missing-man formation. We will not forget.

The challenges of service are great, but we meet them together. That is the foundation on which I stand.

We can and must work together. That doesn’t mean we must all agree – or even like each other – but we are Americans and must remember everyone must cross the finish line – jobs to feed families, education to ready our youth, care for the sick and elderly, help for new businesses, dedication to our nation.

The teamwork of the military is a powerful lesson about working together like it or not.  
Those who have served, whom we honor this Memorial Day, put aside their personal freedom, their individuality and paid a high cost, some paying the ultimate price for national security.

The men and women who answer the call to serve our nation deserve more than our remembrance. They deserve our very best. When they return home, it is our obligation to make sure they have what it takes to put their lives back on track. Medical care, job training, education, employment services, family counseling, financial aid – whatever it takes. They sacrificed for us, now it’s our turn.

Teamwork, everyone crosses the finish line. Together, we can solve our nation’s problems. We all are Americans: When we work together, we can accomplish anything.