Candidates mark Veterans Day

Those who want to be the next commander-in-chief are marking Veterans Day today in ways that reflect the tenor of their campaigns.

Democrats Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, and John Edwards, for instance, are using the observance to highlight their plans to give more help to veterans. They are calling for improved healthcare, with particular attention to military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with post traumatic stress disorder.

Under Edwards' plan, which he plans to unveil today at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire, veterans could seek counseling for post-traumatic stress disorder outside the Veterans Health Administration system.

"I strongly believe we must restore the sacred contract we have with our veterans and their families, and that we must begin by reforming our system for treating PTSD. We also must act to remove the stigma from this disorder," Edwards said in prepared remarks his campaign provided to The Associated Press. "Warriors should never be ashamed to deal with the personal consequences of war."

Republicans Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and Mitt Romney, on the other hand, are eschewing specific policy proposals for more general expressions of support for veterans, particularly those serving in what they call the war on terror. Romney offered his tribute in the form of a video on his campaign website (watch it here).

McCain, the only one of the three who is a veteran himself, went to a military cemetery in the battleground state of South Carolina, where a sizable military community will play a key role in the key Jan. 19 primary.

"I'm here where so many of our veterans rest," he said this morning on "Fox & Friends" on the Fox News Channel. "My service, anything I may have done, pales in comparison to what these brave young men and women did in service to their country in every war, which we are celebrating today. Also, what they are doing today. They're fighting under the most difficult and challenging conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan."