Sunday, November 11, is Veterans’ Day. In honor of the occasion, I’m going to share one of the best recent tributes I’ve read to the men and women who have served this country in our armed forces.

It’s by Ben Stein, so it’s a bit quirky, but it’s heartfelt, nonetheless. It comes from Mr. Stein’s new book, The Real Stars (New Beginnings Press, $14.95).

In an essay in the book entitled, “Gratitude”, Stein talks about doing some holiday shopping in Beverly Hills about two days before Christmas a few years ago. He describes the almost perfect weather, the hustle and bustle of the happy shoppers and the vulgar affluence that is characteristic of Beverly Hills. In the process, he makes some mildly comical observations about a middle-aged woman getting a foot massage.

Then comes the kicker:

“None of this,” he writes, “absolutely none of it, would be there without the men and women of our armed forces. Every bit of what we have by virtue of being a free and prosperous nation, every ability to buy whatever book we want at Dutton’s, every ability we have to come here from foreign lands to escape oppression, every speck of a chance we have to make it and become prosperous enough to have foot massages -- all this is behind the shield of the United States Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, National Guard and Reserves. Every speck of everything good we have by having full pantries and full stomachs is because someone died for us at Bastogne or Tarawa. Every Jewish person like me … owes our bare survival to the men and women who fought and won World War II. Hollywood didn’t do it. Martha Stewart didn’t do it. Donald Trump didn’t do it. The U.S. Congress didn’t do it. Men and women from places like Prescott, Arkansas, and Bedford, Virginia –- people we never heard of –- they are the ones who did it.”

How do we as a nation pay the debt we owe our veterans –- and to the men and women on active duty today? Well, we can’t –- at least not in full. But we can put something on account.

Mr. Stein has a few suggestions as to what might constitute an appropriate down payment. He writes: “Pay them more. Send their kids to school for free. Love them. Take them into our hearts. In the privacy of our homes –- a privacy that their lives assured –- be on our knees with gratitude to God that he sent such great souls into our lives.”

Amen to that. Happy Veterans' Day: to all who served, and to all on active duty.

And thank you.