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Nice enough post, but I would note that not everybody has to die to have filled this version of "serve".

Milton points out - "They also serve who only stand and wait" -- the quote may be and usually is misinterpreted.

Another author gets it much more accurately. In the 1951 book by Herman Wouk, The Caine Mutiny, a pivotal section brings up the point

"When I was studying law, and Mr. Keefer here was writing his stories, and you, Willie, were tearing up the playing fields of dear old Princeton, who was standing guard over this fat, dumb, happy country of ours, eh? Not us. Oh, no! We knew you couldn't make any money in the service. So who did the dirty work for us? Queeg did! And a lot of other guys, tough, sharp guys who didn't crack up like Queeg"

Service in peacetime (after Korea, I don't know how much of that we had) was viewed as poorly paid, boring and of little value. Today, many citizens view service in our armed forces in much vein, Jon Carry aside.

Doesn't matter when you served, or where you served, a vet has shown by their actions that they are willing to place duty before self, and Nation before family/friends/etc.

So for the Coastie changing batteries in a bouy on a cold and wet morning, to the solitary radar maintenance tech pulling a PM routine at midnight on a mountaintop in Korea, for all service personnel worldwide

Merry Christmas. And THANK YOU.