There are few opportunities quite like Veterans Day when it comes to learning about our history.

History, as is commonly said, is written by the winners. And while that may be true for the history books, operating on the scale of generations, we prefer to say that history is written by the writers — those men and women who had boots on the ground during whatever historical event the scribes of the future will wax poetic about.

If you want to learn, then the best thing to do is to talk to those people.

Many veterans from the 20th century’s “major conflicts,” historically speaking, have moved on, at this point.

According to the National World War II Museum, out of 16.4 million American WWII vets, only 45,418 remain today — less than 0.5 percent.

That number is expected to dwindle to less than 5,000 within five years.

Likewise, the VA states that Korean War veterans will drop below 200,000 within the same time span.

The math is a little less clear for Vietnam, since not everyone who served during that time was actually in Vietnam, however, some sources such as the charity Disabled American Veterans suggests less than 650,000 are alive today as a ballpark figure.

If you get the chance to talk with one of these folks, we encourage you to take it. Their lived experience is unlike anything that most of us can truly relate to, and their stories are in urgent need of recording.

And, let us not forget the approximately 700,000 Gulf War veterans, nor the approximately 2-3 million War on Terror veterans. They may be quite a bit younger, but time eventually catches up to us all, and if the opportunity presents itself to sit down and learn — take it!

Of course, be respectful. If a veteran declines to speak about his past, don’t push the issue. Veterans have many reasons to decline talking about their service, and you are owed nothing.

If they’re willing, though, sit down with an open mind. Be ready to take notes to look up things later.

The internet has fallen somewhat from how it used to be — especially with the rise of AI “information,” but there are still plenty of tools to learn and research subjects available.

Never hear of a town or company that is referenced? Take a few minutes later and look it up!

The least we can do to thank veterans for their service is to try to understand, as best we can, their experiences, as a sign of respect and interest.

We live in a fairly veteran-rich area: Census data shows about 7.7 percent of our population has a veteran status, which is substantially higher than both the averages for Pennsylvania and the United States as a whole.

There are sociological explanations for that, but the conclusion is more valuable: our region is flush with stories — memories of times, places and people long past, where our friends, relatives and acquaintances accomplished immense deeds in the name of countrymen they likely would never meet.

You can debate the merits of their missions or orders — and if pop culture is anything to go by, a lot of veterans question their brass, too.

But the veterans themselves deserve much better.

Most of us cannot comprehend the sacrifices they have made, thousands of miles from home and anything, or anyone, familiar — to say nothing of the shared experiences with friends and family back home that they miss out on.

So this Veterans Day: Sit. Listen. Learn. You’ll be glad you did.