Veterans Day 2013: Sincere thank you’s, freebies and a simple doodle

Veterans Day 2013 is ushered in online Monday with a starkly simple Google Doodle and coast-to-coast freebies -- small but symbolic ways to thank the nation’s veterans for their service to the United States.

The Veterans Day doodle is a bit of a departure from the trend of late toward more elaborate, interactive Google Doodles. Perhaps because such razzmatazz isn’t needed to honor the men and women who make up the armed forces, past and present.

The Google Doodle’s slightly impressionistic brush strokes show veterans of all ages on a day when the nation honors the often-overlooked sacrifices made by military men and women and their families as well.

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Across the nation, Veterans Day 2013 will be marked by parades, ceremonies and memorials to honor the nation’s veterans.

Among them: New York City’s Veterans Day Parade, and the annual wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. The man believed to be the nation’s oldest living vet, Richard Overton, 107, will be President Obama’s special guest at that ceremony. (Overton is remarkable not just because of longevity: He still drives, walks without a cane, and believes the secret to a long life is a daily dose of whiskey, and plenty of cigars.)

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Businesses nationwide are also marking Veterans Day 2013 with freebies for servicemen and women -- a lovely way to say thank you.

Applebees, for example, offers a free meal to veterans and active servicemen and women, California Pizza Kitchen is giving away pizzas, Red Robin is giving away burgers, Starbucks is giving away free coffee, and Sizzler and TGI Fridays are picking up the bill for lunch. The website Military Benefits rounds up other offers. (Call ahead and doublecheck the offers, as some require proof of service and offer details may vary.)

Thank you to all the veterans and active duty servicemen and women who keep this country safe.

Did you come across any Veterans Day stories that you’d like to share? I’d like to read them. Tweet me @renelynch so I can do just that.

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