Several major restaurant and café chains are offering free meals, drinks or buy-one-get-one-free deals exclusively for veterans and active service members this Veterans Day.

Below, here's a glance at some of the more notable restaurants and businesses providing these Veterans Day deals.

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All offers require military identification unless noted otherwise.

Check these out for America's heroes. 

Applebee's is offering select entrées for free from a limited menu throughout the day to all veterans or active-duty military members.

This is the 18th consecutive year that Applebee's has provided Veterans Day deals, according to the company's website.

It is only available for dine-in customers.

Past and present military members can enjoy 10 free boneless wings and an order of regular fries for free.

The offer only applies to dine-in customers.

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When visiting a Buffalo Wild Wings Go location, the offer is valid for walk-in orders order.

All veterans or active-duty military who visit a California Pizza Kitchen will receive a complimentary beverage and one entrée from a limited menu.

The drink choices are between Coca-Cola fountain beverages, iced tea or passion fruit mango unsweetened iced tea.

Entrée options include four choices of full-size salads (Original BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad, Thai Crunch, Classic Caesar or Italian Chopped), six pizzas (Original BBQ Chicken Pizza, Hawaiian, Mushroom Pepperoni Sausage, Pepperoni, Five Cheese + Fresh Tomato or Traditional Cheese) — or three pastas (Garlic Cream Fettucine with Chicken, Kung Pao Spaghetti with Chicken or Bolognese Spaghetti).

Veterans and active-duty military can receive a free meal and non-alcoholic drink from a limited menu at all participating Chili's locations.

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The offer is valid for dine-in customers only.

Diners who visit Chipotle Mexican Grill locations between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. can buy an entrée and receive a second entrée of equal or lesser value for free.

"As a small token of our gratitude, we're inviting veterans and the military community to share a meal with someone they care about this Veterans Day," Chris Brandt, president and chief brand officer for Chipotle, said in a news release. 

"Their courage and commitment inspire us every day, and we're honored to serve those who serve our country."

The offer is valid for customers who dine at all Chipotle locations nationwide.

All veterans and active-duty military can swing by a Cracker Barrel Old Country Store location throughout the day to receive a complimentary Sunrise Pancake Special.

"At Cracker Barrel, we believe sharing a warm, delicious meal is one of the simplest yet most sincere ways to say, 'Thank you,'" Sarah Moore, chief marketing officer at Cracker Barrel, said in a release. 

"We're grateful for the chance to share a meal and a moment of connection with veterans and active-duty military from across the country this Veterans Day."

The Sunrise Pancake Special comes with two buttermilk pancakes and a choice of eggs or a savory breakfast meat.

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It's not just for breakfast, however. The offer is available to dine-in customers all day long.

Denny's is also giving away breakfast pancakes to veterans and active-duty military.

The Original Grand Slam is available from 5 a.m. until noon at all participating Denny's locations nationwide.

It comes with two buttermilk pancakes, two strips of bacon, two sausage links and two eggs made to order.

Golden Corral will welcome veterans, current service members and National Guard members for a free buffet dinner from 4 p.m. until close.

The Military Appreciation Night event is now in its 25th year and has served nearly 6.7 million meals since 2001, according to Golden Corral's website.

If there's no time for a sit-down meal, Hy-Vee might be the best place to fill up.

A buffet-style breakfast will be offered for free to all veterans and active-duty military members from 6-10 a.m.

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Active and retired military can also receive 15% off their grocery purchases at Hy-Vee.

Hy-Vee has been giving away breakfast to veterans since 1999.

Veterans can enjoy a patriotic meal courtesy of IHOP's Red, White and Blueberry Pancake Combo.

The blueberry pancakes are served with two eggs, hash browns and a choice between two strips of bacon or a pair of sausage links.

IHOP will welcome veterans for the free meal deal from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at participating locations.

Veterans and active military can grab a free coffee and doughnut from Krispy Kreme.

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The offer is valid for a free small hot or iced coffee and choice of doughnut, inside or at the drive-thru window.

A free Aussie 3-Course meal is waiting for all current and former military members at Outback Steakhouse.

The meal comes with the choice of a soup or salad as a starter, a select entrée and a New York-Style Cheesesteak for dessert.

Active-duty military personnel and veterans can swing by Shake Shack for a free burger.

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The Big Shack is made with two quarter-pound beef patties, Shake Shack's secret sauce, lettuce, American cheese, thick-cut pickles, onions and Roma tomatoes on three buttered and toasted potato buns.

The deal is only applicable at participating Shake Shack locations, excluding airports, stadiums, arenas, travel plazas and museums.

Veterans, military service members and their spouses can grab a cup of coffee for free at participating Starbucks locations nationwide.

The choices are between a tall (12-ounce) hot or iced coffee.

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Cold Brew, Nitro and beverage customizations are excluded.

Veterans and active-duty service members can get a free Red's Big Tavern Burger from Red Robin all day long.

Topped with Red's Secret Tavern Sauce, American cheese, lettuce and tomato on a toasted brioche bun, the burger is served with bottomless steak fries.

The offer is only applicable to dine-in customers.

Whataburger isn't just giving away a free Taquito to current and retired military during breakfast hours on Veterans Day.

The Texas-based burger chain announced it is giving away a free Taquito every Tuesday through the end of the year.

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Whataburger will also continue to honor veterans year-round with a free 16-ounce hot or iced coffee for service members and veterans.

We all know the drill by now.

Lawmaker is in the news, lawmaker writes self-serving book, lawmaker promotes self-serving book to make a buck.

But John Fetterman is different. I have never read such a searingly candid account of what it means to struggle with depression, to the point of being suicidal.

There’s an excerpt in the Free Press, and it is riveting.

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The Pennsylvania senator has always been a character: a hulking six-foot-eight, doing interviews in hoodies, not nearly liberal enough to satisfy much of his Democratic Party.

Fetterman, you’ll recall, suffered a stroke just before he won the Democratic nomination for his seat.

His wife Gisele noticed a drooping of his mouth and took him to a nearby hospital, which, fortunately, was 10 minutes away.

The surgery saved him, but he had trouble understanding words and phrases, communicating only with an iPhone with closed-captioning.

Fetterman’s condition improved, "but in hindsight I should have quit."

He was constantly mentioned on Fox, or under attack by Dr. Mehmet Oz and his allies: "Uncle Festerman [in an] oversize gym-rat costume," "unfit to run," "the guy can’t talk," a "wax dummy," "where does the man end and the machine." And on social media "Vegetable. Moron. Retard."

This got in his head: "a defining quality of depression, the building blocks of which I had probably struggled with ever since I was a kid. My parents were 19 when I was conceived, and I have always felt it was because of me that my parents were unable to follow their own dreams. When your self-image is negative, as mine was growing up, you gravitate toward shame. You gravitate toward feeling unwanted."

"This inclination persisted even as an adult…"

"Is this my life now?"

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Then came the debate against Oz. He was awful.

"This was a make-or-break moment that would determine the outcome of the election, and I had wilted. I’d choked."

"For the entire three-and-a-half-hour ride back from the debate, I read reactions on X, shooting myself up with the shame that is too often the sustenance of the depressive…"

"For months, I was suicidal. Paranoid. Not eating. Not sleeping. Not speaking. Not functioning. Resigned. Ashamed. Despairing. Despairing everywhere I was. Up was down, and down was up." He won anyway by 5 points.

"Once, as I lay in bed," Fetterman said, "I asked myself, What would you do if there were a pill on the nightstand you could take and not wake up? I would have taken it."

Gisele told him "I could not come home until I was back to being myself: The impact on our kids was just too great." So the senator moved in with his parents.

"By February, I wasn’t eating, and I wouldn’t talk to anybody..."

"I began to feel more alive and animated than I had in months. I was present. I felt energy."

"There were still enormous challenges, though. I was terrified to see my family."

"A young therapist-in-training came in to talk to me one day. 'Gisele and the kids are thinking about coming to visit,' she said."

"I don’t think that’s a good idea." The next day: "The kids are better off without me."

"At that point, she stepped out of her professional mode and said the most important thing that has ever been said to me in my life:"

"Children need their daddy."

The visit at a Wendy’s went well. Everyone was relaxed. He needed their love.

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I don’t care if you like John Fetterman or not, whether you think he should resign or not, whether you think he’s an awful senator or not. If you can read that without being moved, you don’t have a heart.

Depression is a scourge on our society. Many people are on all kinds of medications to try to cope with it, or in long-term therapy, or both.

I’ve never read such a brutally candid account of what it’s like to struggle with depression, let alone from an incumbent office-holder. It certainly deepened my understanding of this deadly disease, and I hope yours as well.

If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).