No amount of thanks, celebration, or pageantry can repay these brave souls for the unimaginable hardships they endured on our behalf, yet each of us owes a personal debt of gratitude that demands whatever demonstrations of thankfulness we can muster. In that endeavor we should be united.

Veterans Day can be celebrated in many ways, not the least of which is upholding the foundational ideals for which so many have fought and died — liberty, justice, and equality. And in today’s political and social environment, characterized by divisiveness and conflict, this is a holiday Americans are proud to celebrate as one people. In fact, when Congress recognized the holiday in a concurrent resolution in 1926, they affirmed “…it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations.”

Therefore, it may come as quite a surprise to many Oklahomans that in the year 2016, a Muslim group is being intentionally excluded from participating in the Tulsa Veterans Day Parade.

Last year, when we proposed the idea of CAIR Oklahoma and the Muslim community participating in the Tulsa Veterans Day Parade, the source of our bid was rooted in the hundreds of Muslim American veterans who have served our nation honorably in the armed forces, some of whom are our strongest supporters and dearest friends. I also wanted my Muslim community to be able to show those that have sacrificed so much to protect our liberties that we genuinely appreciate them and we honor them through our participation in the parade.

Perhaps that is why I, as well as countless others, was taken aback when our involvement in last year’s Veterans Day Parade was the cause of much unwarranted controversy. There were rallies held by our elected leaders calling for Muslims to be banned from the parade, while others took to social media to condemn our organization. Some even went so far as to threaten to take to the rooftops to “shoot and kill” Muslims who chose to march that day. The vitriol was such that the local Islamic school withdrew their children’s participation in the parade for fear of their safety. What had we done to deserve such hostility and hatred being thrown at us? Why were attempts once again made to bar us from fully participating in civic life as American citizens?

March we did, nevertheless. Even when parade organizers made a last ditch effort to ban us from participating after caving to the pressure of Islamophobia. And I for one am glad we didn’t back down in the face of hatred and bigotry, for I never felt such a sense of pride in my state and country as I did that day. Marching alongside my American Muslim brothers and sisters, American Muslim Veterans, and holding the flag of my country, I knew that all the efforts to honor our servicemen had been worth it.

But in 2016, not a single Muslim group will march in the Tulsa Veterans Day Parade.

The organizing committee of the Tulsa Veterans Day Parade declined to allow our participation in this year’s parade. Even so, Oklahoma’s Muslim community will seize the opportunity to show what the true Oklahoma Standard is all about. Though we will not march, we are proud and honored to join a grateful nation in recognizing all who have distinguished themselves by serving and sacrificing to preserve the ideals that strengthen our communities and make the American way of life the standard to which all others aspire.

Adam Soltani is executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Oklahoma Chapter.