Ditto.
I spent 8 years in the regular Air Force, and 3 in the Vermont Air Guard.
I never did anything heroic, it was just a job.
When people "thank me for their service", I am silent for a second, looking at them very seriously, then I ask them to please NEVER vote for a democrat if they are serious about "thanking" me. Sometimes I add on that the democrats hate us.
Good one! I might try that some day. Maybe even today... Working for the G and all, there will be many people thanking me for my service because tomorrow is, of course, veterans day.
Anyone who I meet who has served, I make sure to thank them. Not because I view them as “heroes”.
The vast majority of civilians who have never served don’t understand the peculiar way of life and the special and unique demands that the military makes on those who serve.
At any given time, no questions asked, you can be taken out of the stream of whatever comforts of life you may have around you, put on a ship, plane, or truck, sent to ANYWHERE no matter how dangerous or uncomfortable, may be deprived of everything from food and water to your very life, and your death will likely be a very anonymous, lonely one. And you are doing it all for relatively low money.
Being a military wife is a damned hard job, especially if you have kids.
So, I believe in a special, default respect we should render those who serve. If they are called on to surrender everything they have including their lives, they should at least know that it was for something, and that there are some people who do care and are grateful.