Army Ranger Jacob Vogel is a young veteran; he finished his service as a Ranger in 2010. He has spoken to the Jefferson City Veteran’s Council about the importance he sees in this holiday.

Army Ranger Jacob Vogel speaks to fellow veterans at American Legion Post 5 in Jefferson City.

He says talking to other veterans about how wars are different now than they were ten or fifty years ago. Vogel served in Iraq and Afghanistan as a Sniper and a Gunner. He says his father, who was also in the military, inspired him to be part of something he called “a wonderful happy fraternity.”

He says now the enemy is less clearly defined. He says a lot of the technology has changed over the years, but he says “old-fashioned boots on the ground” work is what wins wars. He says Veterans’ Day is especially important now because its easy for people to forget about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan because the enemy is not as easy to picture, and the battlefield is so different from conflicts in the past.