To those that mean it, please understand that your thanks is not necessary because we have our own metrics that give merit to our sense of who we are and what we accomplished. Consequently, Vets don’t require or expect a thanks for their service. Quiet, honest service is its own and best reward. A real thanks, honestly expressed, is deeply welcomed, for sure, especially if the Vet served on any number of foreign battlefields, so very from far from family and home.
And most Vets view their service as a calling, not a job. It is something they were born to do.
What is often forgotten on Memorial Day is the Veteran’s family. By many measures, the family left behind suffers as much or more as the serviceman. Daily, hourly, the family wonders if their loved one is okay or hurt, or worse. That is a mental torture that goes unnoticed and unremarked, even on Veterans Day. They are as much a veteran as the one who served. They served, just in a different way.
When the Vet deploys, who runs the home, pays the bills, calls the plumber, cuts the grass, raises the children, and does hundreds of small and large chores to ensure the home-fires keep burning? The spouse. Running your family is hard even when both spouses are at home. It is especially difficult when doing this alone.
My wife of 43-yrs suffered through my many deployments, and during Gulf War I, I was a forward air controller with the US Army. I knew where I was and what I was doing, and the risks. She, on the other hand, had no such information and by not knowing anything she suffered greatly, especially since she knew I was in the war and on the ground, in the front with the US Army and not protected by my A-10 titanium-wrapped cockpit. More than once she woke up in the middle of the night and turned on the TV, hoping she might see me while at the same time, hoping not to.
My wife was at a church event when the pastor called her aside and broke the news that Gulf War I began. She cried and then they prayed. My 10-yr old son, on the other hand, dealt with this news differently. He went to a nearby classroom, found some toys and soon the room was filled with sounds of a little boy making war noises as he fought beside me. After the war, when I heard their reactions, it broke my heart and underscored the fact they suffered right alongside me.
It is clear that Veterans Day belongs to families as well as the warrior.
I’ll leave you with this; both the Vets and their families served God, country and family.
I simply say, “It was a privilege to serve.”
I was in ROTC when Vets returning from Vietnam were spit on and was on active duty post-Vietnam when we weren't much more popular. Now, I'm not naive and I know the Rats who say this don't really mean it and would defund the military as fast as the police, but at least they're not spitting on us.
My view is that if you want to thank me for my service, tell me how you encouraged your son/daughter to join the US Military.
Otherwise I really don’t care to hear it as I don’t think most really believe it.
.What pisses me off the most is that Veterans Day is a holiday that gives government workers the day off while the rest of the real veterans in the private sector still have to work...........Go figure!
i think it’s the new “have a nice day” Most people don’t mean it- they just feel like they have to say something.
Yes.
I always meant it when I said it to a vet, but I understand that the saying “Thank you for your service” can get stale. This year I switched to “Thanks for keeping watch” and “Thanks for manning the battlements”.
I almost always say “You’re welcome. Parts of it sucked, but I miss it and would do it again in a heartbeat.”
You are a bit touchy, aren’t you?
Geez, just accept the compliment, and go on.
I didn’t serve in the military, but I wish I had.
And I’m grateful for those of you who did.
And BTW, thank you for your service.
I see a lot of Vets in my work. I like to thank them for defending freedom.
However one time I passed a fellow in full Revolutionary War dress, tricorn hat, etc, on the sidewalk in Boston. He got the obligatory TYFYS.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this. It reminded me of when George Bush said at the New York city parade for Desert Storm vets, “this for for the VietNam vets too”. I almost choked on my own bile when I heard this. When I came home from Nam I was amazed, over time, to learn how many people had prayed for me and for US...and how many did not.
My husband’s response is, “I enjoyed every minute of it!” He spent 8 years in submarines.
I always respond with: “It was an honor to serve my country.” Sometimes, depending on the person, I respond with: “You were worth it.”
A simple thank you and you’re welcome works.
Thank you and your family. God bless.
Thanks for acknowledging the families of the military. I was happy to serve also, albeit at home.
I was at the very end of Vietnam.
I was crawling around and repairing
bombers loaded with nukes
at age 18 I went in at age 17.
I remember the lack of respect we were shown
even though we never went “in country”.
I always thank anybody that gives the
Standard line. I usually don’t say you are welcome.
I see people in the Va clinic all the time that are way
more disabled than I am. That is the real thanks
taking care of the guys that are hurting.
I saw my service as a job and I did it well.
I never saw it as a calling, but as a duty I agreed
to perform when others would not, a duty that
had to be done.
I was a professional soldier as were my comrades.
It took many years but America has finally
stepped up.
Aloha.
Didn’t hear it the first 30 yrs I was out. Now it’s just a fad.It’s irritating and not worth a reply.
I have always been uncomfortable with that phrase, and frankly, would prefer to never hear it again. Perhaps I would feel differently if I had ever heard it within the first 20 years after I got home, but that NEVER happened. It only became popular to recognize military service, let alone
give thanks for it, after the First Gulf War, Bush the Elder’s Conclusive Victory Interruptus.
I bear no ill will against those who speak the phrase whether in a sincere or perfunctory manner. My reply has always been, “It was the honor of my life.” I wish my countrymen had felt the same way when I returned home
over half a century ago. It pains my heart to this very day.
As for the sacrifices of my family, I was single and unattached then, but my Mother, G-D bless her, suffered greatly, as Mothers always do. I don’t think that anyone else even knew how long I was gone. When I walked down the stairs from the plane my mother was the only one there to meet me.
Thank Almighty G-D for the love in the heart of a man’s Mother, and may G-D forgive me for every tear I made her shed.