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Is "Thank you for your service" enough for veterans?

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Josh:
I remember the first time I was thanked by a stranger for my military service. It was February 2006, and I was on the way home for mid-tour leave with a planeload of other troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. Our plane stopped in Bangor, Maine, like thousands of similar flights before and after ours. One by one, garbed in dusty camouflage, we walked into the terminal.

I was expecting an empty airport, but instead we were met by a platoon of older volunteers decked out in red-white-and-blue, welcoming us home with cookies and cellphones so we could call our families and let them know we were back stateside. One by one, the volunteers thanked us, shaking our hands or hugging us.

--- End quote ---

As a soldier, I recommend everyone read this article.

I agree with everything this article says. However, I would like to point out one thing I have run across in my travels. I've heard some people thank veterans solely because it is the politically correct thing to do right now. I've watched some of these same people then bad mouth soldiers, the military, and the country. My point in identifying this is simple: Do not thank a soldier or veteran just because. Do it because you mean it. If you do not mean it, don't do it. That is why we fight, have fought, and will continue to fight...So you can have the FREEDOM to make that choice. I do not want support from every person out there because I know not all people support what we do or why we do it.

Enjoy your freedoms, that is why soldiers like myself have fought and will continue to do so.

I will say that I enjoy, for the most part, being thanked for my service. There is nothing better than knowing what I do is appreciated. I enjoy it when you can tell the person saying it genuinely means it. Just remember, Saying thank you does not necessarily mean doing it vocally. You can do it other ways like allowing a soldier to go in front of you at a store during checkout, offering them a hand with bags or a large load they are attempting to move, or just simply holding a door open. I don't speak for all soldiers but I do know that some soldiers appreciate small things like this far more than a "Thank you".

Source

mouser:
Josh, thank you for your service.

Josh:
Thanks mouser.

And I would like to point out that receiving "kudos" was not why I posted this topic. I thought this article/opinion piece hit on an important topic that others should read.

Stoic Joker:
Just remember, Saying thank you does not necessarily mean doing it vocally. You can do it other ways like allowing a soldier to go in front of you at a store during checkout, offering them a hand with bags or a large load they are attempting to move, or just simply holding a door open. I don't speak for all soldiers but I do know that some soldiers appreciate small things like this far more than a "Thank you".-Josh (November 05, 2011, 06:29 PM)
--- End quote ---

It is often said, but never the less true, that actions speak louder than words. Back when I still had the bar, I would serve anyone with a military ID - regardless of their birthdate.


Thank you.

Renegade:
I read the article. I suppose there are a large number of views on the topic.

My likely unpopular take on the topic
DISCLAIMER: First, it is not my intent to offend here. I'm merely stating some personal takes on violence and the like in this context. I'm not spitting on anyone, belittling anyone, or anything of the sort. Please don't read into things more than is written. I'm more than happy to not have an opinion on some topics and to reserve judgment.

It seems to me that context really needs to be taken into account.

Outside of the context, I think it's reasonable to be thankful to soldiers for their intentions, even if you disagree with their actions. e.g. You can be thankful that they signed up with the intention to do good for the country. You can hate what actually happens.

My views on violence are rather radical. I think that whenever possible, it should be avoided. But when it isn't possible to avoid, violence should be greeted with escalation to greater violence, and that should be well-known and publicized to act as a deterrent, with the hopes that it aids in avoiding violence.

i.e. Bring knives to fist-fights. Bring guns to knife-fights. Bring tanks to gun-fights. etc. etc. up to logical conclusion of WMDs. (Yes, I fully understand the insanity there. But that's the point.)

By escalating the potential cost for the adversary to insane levels, deterrence works *IF* they recognize that and work rationally.

So, the hope of deterrence is that by making it irrational to become violent, hopefully violence can be preempted entirely.


Armed forces and police seem to be very similar in many respects.

I think it's reasonable to be thankful for the cop that shows up at an accident, helps people in the crash until an ambulance arrives, then directs traffic and helps calm/smooth the situation. He's helping out. That's a good thing.

I don't think it's reasonable to be thankful for the cop that shows up at a peaceful protest and starts forcibly removing people from public property or starts arresting people or intimidating people or shooting tear gas or... That he's been ordered to do so isn't relevant. He's not helping people. That's not a good thing.

The same thing applies to the armed forces. When you have peace keepers move into a conflict area where civilians are being systematically exterminated, and those peace keepers stop that, then that's a good thing. They're helping people. I think we can be thankful for that.

I don't believe that people should be thankful for armed forces deployments that do more harm than good. Unfortunately, I think that's a large number of military deployments.

The US 8th army is a good deployment. It helps keep peace on the Korean peninsula. I think that's something we can be thankful for.

For Iraq... I'm not so sure. I reserve judgment there.

But at the end of the day, whether or not we're thankful, as I described above, is dependent on the political forces behind the operation. What are the motives? What is really being done? What good is being done? What is the reality of the situation? Am I being asked to be thankful for killing people? Am I being asked to be thankful for helping people?

I wish that wars were fought with education and assistance. People that have good lives and that are well educated aren't likely to resort to violence.

How much does 1 missile cost, and how much does 1 classroom with desks, books, pencils and paper cost?

Take things away from people. Beat them down. Give them no hope. Make any option better than the options that they currently have, and you have a recipe for violence that no deterrent can overcome.

Armed forces in the form of violence -- I can't be thankful for that, and I can't support it.

Armed forces that assist and protect people -- I can be thankful for and support that.

Same for police.

I can't support police violence/oppression against people, like is happening all over the world right now.

But I can absolutely get behind peace officers that serve to protect and help people.

The blanket "support the troops" platform, I can't get behind. It asks too much.

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