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"Leadership, courage and decisiveness."
These are some of the attributes of Captain Howlett D. Cohick praised in the citation that accompanied his Distinguished Flying Cross, one of the most prestigious medals awarded by the U.S. Air Force.
Cohick was one of the last Air Force pilots to fly out of Kabul, Afghanistan during the perilous exit of U.S. forces from Afghanistan in late August of 2021.
Regardless of anyone's personal feelings about any stage of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, we all -- all -- should respect the sacrifice and selflessness of veterans like Howlett Cohick and their willingness to do what their country asked of them.
We should also, as we have editorialized on many occasions, ask our leaders to recommit themselves and our society to honoring veterans' service and to fulfilling our obligations to them.
We should ask our elected officials and public servants to ensure that veterans' health care and other services are adequately funded and well-managed.
We should ask our business leaders to assist in the veterans' transition to civilian work and life. Businesses that provide reliable, well-paying jobs to veterans should be lauded -- and there should be more of such businesses.
We should ask ourselves what we can do to welcome veterans home, to include them in our communities and neighborhoods and to recognize their valor.
Leadership, courage and decisiveness are important traits. They are traits of which our country and our world need more. We should embrace every opportunity to encourage and foster leadership, courage and decisiveness.