On this Veterans Day holiday, when the country gives thanks for the sacrifices of its fighting forces, the plight of America's veterans is increasingly before us as their number and their poignant circumstances have risen during the Iraq war.

President Bush "surged" the number of troops there by 30,000, to 165,000 this year, producing a record year for U.S. deaths. Another 23,000 are in Afghanistan.

Regardless of any particular war's popularity or controversy, Americans keep an enduring covenant with their soldiers. These men and women put their lives at risk by fighting, and sometimes killing, others for the nation's security. In return, the United States promises to take care of them according to the needs they acquired during their service.

The Iraq war has greatly increased that debt. An estimated 700,000 American soldiers have served there. More than 3,800 are dead and thousands more are wounded. Due to the increased sophistication of medical care, some wounded will live who in previous wars would have died.

This year has been both bad and good for America's veterans. Conditions at one of America's showcase veterans' facilities, Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, were revealed in February by The Washington Post to be shamefully substandard. Fortunately, that spotlight on the situation has prompted new attention to Walter Reed and other veterans' medical facilities.

Last week The New York Times reported that at least 400 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans are homeless. While veterans constitute 11 percent of the adult population, they account for 26 percent of the homeless, according to a study by the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

The nation has an obligation to address veterans' problems. Programs to take care of those who have been damaged in service to their country deserve the highest priority. Of course, to bring to a complete end the dumping of these disabled veterans into a sometimes careless society will require the end of the war.