With the holiday season quickly approaching, it can be easy to forget to take the time on Nov. 11 to thank and remember those that have served our country in conflicts and on our home soil.

The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs says, “Veterans Day is the day set aside to thank and honor all those who served honorably in the military—in wartime or peacetime¬. To thank living veterans for their service, to acknowledge that their contributions to our national security are appreciated, and to underscore the fact that all those who served—not only those who died—have sacrificed and done their duty.”

Veterans have endured hardships that many of us cannot fathom, yet maintained their humanity in times of unimaginable despair, forming bonds with one another and the animals that served alongside them and helped them through the horrors of war.

In the earlier wars, especially World War I, horses were recruited by the millions and deployed overseas. During transport, horses were housed in close, unsanitary quarters, crossing thousands of miles of choppy ocean before arriving in war-torn areas to serve as beasts of burden and/or cavalry members