Many times, while trvelling, I've seen young Marines be unable to buy a beer at an airport.. because of age restrictions. Believe me, there is nothign sadder than seeing 4 or so young Marines, fresh out of boot camp, ( they have that incredibly scrubbed looked..newly minted..) I'll always buy a few, then walk over, put them on the table, sit down and talk with them..( and they always want to repay you...)and start reliving my youth..
Reading all these posts about doing kind things for our returing troops, it never crossed my mind that many aren't old enough to buy a beer until I read your post. Talk about something that just isn't right - you can die for your country but can't legally drink. That sure needs to be changed someway.
On subject, we eat out a couple of times a week and pick up the tab of anyone we see in uniform. Monday week, we saw an incredibly young couple (she was 17, he was 19) at our favorite steakhouse. He wore desert fatigues and we struck up a conversation. He had just returned home from an year in Iraq that day. We talked for a few minutes waiting to be seated, and asked our waitress to pick up their tab anonymously. They were a wise pair, and before they left they came over to our table and both hugged me. All the ladies in our party had tears in their eyes.