Thank You for Your Service.

[U.S.ArmyVeteran]

Just a little note.

Last week I came out of Discount tire and saw a guy going to his truck with disabled veteran plates. I walked by him thanked him for his service and gave him a fist bump. He got in his truck and came back to me and handed me this business card and patted my shoulder. I forgot I was wearing one of my many Army hats.

I was a bit misty eyed.

[NJKris]

That is very cool.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by U.S.ArmyVeteran

Just a little note.

Last week I came out of Discount tire and saw a guy going to his truck with disabled veteran plates. I walked by him thanked him for his service and gave him a fist bump. He got in his truck and came back to me and handed me this business card and patted my shoulder. I forgot I was wearing one of my many Army hats.

I was a bit misty eyed.

I got one of those a little over a year ago at my local Wallmart from a guy who saw my "Army Hat".

Pretty much the same reaction here.

It's also quite refreshing to get the same thanks from younger people today that back when I returned home I would have labeled as "hippies".

What a change.

[CowboyDave]

I know I'm 2 years late in posting a reply but I'm new.
In Wyoming and Kansas areas, I have been stopped by young people also and was thanked for my service whereas when I ETS out or went on leave, we were spit on and ridiculed. I like to remember more the day I got my Dad a Korean War Veterans ball cap and how he smiled when kids thanked Him for His Service. 2 tours combat Veteran, that's my Dad.
I love the same look on our young Troopers home from Iraq or Afghanistan
.
But, what I'm trying to say is "Thank You ALL for answering the call.

Garry Owen C 2/7

[waybeck2018]

As a Vietnam Vet I was not treated well when I returned home, twice. But today I proudly wear my Viet Nam Veteran ball cap to most places I go. Especially in the past 3-4 years I have been brought to tears by some of the responses I have received including folks paying for my lunch, another time a lady paid for my haircut and once a gent paying for my purchase in Walmart. But most heartfelt was a lady who embraced me in a grocery store, weeping and saying she lost two brothers in Viet Nam but was very happy I made it home. People care but often are no sure how to respond to us. All is appreciated, especially "Welcome Home "

[NJKris]

Friend of mine just posted this on my Whatsapp group. Rings true being a vet from any generation.

Reflections....

As a Vet outside the circle, I often feel lost like a child in a busy shopping center manned by paedophiles...

I am though ok on my own, but I feel complete in only two circumstances... the first with my two faithful Seal Point Siamese cats, or in the company of the brotherhood.

Generally speaking I hate crowds, err... well, people in general. Not a fan of big cities, ****ed traffic and the like. I am a cynic and full of sarcasm, and very much anti-social. I am a home-body who does his own thing.

I go to movies mid week at matinees, I eat at restaurants long before the crush, and I like getting out in the countryside where there are no people.

Then you meet people in your life, which I still do that are connected thru our Brotherhood. At MMI for some time, we had one of those guys, who everyone connected with... We called him 'Pitchfork'... he told it like it was, and was one of those guys who could say what many of us were thinking and with words which cut as deep as Madam Guillotine and stick with ya.... Here is a few paragraphs on being a veteran, through his eyes...

"Being a veteran is like planning to go on one of those life statement, legendary road trips with all the best people you know.
Along the way, you’re laughing, joking, pushing each other to be better men, breaking bread and discussing the best way to get where you are going.

The music is excellent.

And along the way, at random, some hand of God will reach in and yank someone out of the car in the most brutal and violent way possible.

…and end their life.

It’ll freak everyone out. But you can’t stop.

Hell, you can’t even slow down. You just keep going.
Eventually…you get there. You’ll be happy at first then feel guilty because not everyone that started this trip, finished it with you.
Then…after all that….after forging the tightest bonds of love, brotherhood and friendship known to man……..

……you’ll say goodbye and walk away from each other….Some, you’ll never see again. Some, you won’t even bother to remember until it’s too late.

Some will die.

Eventually, you’ll forget about all the sand burning ing in your eyes….accountability formations….and all that bullshit that made you hate it….

And you’ll start to miss that beat up old dodge dart careening down a freeway with little more than a purpose to go by.
If you are fortunate to live long enough to have been called a Veteran. I salute you. Thank you for stepping out, closing the distance, and shooting these MFers in the face."

See, I told ya his words will stick with ya. Tells it how it is, tells it what we all wanna say, but can't find the right words. Thanks 'Pitch for keeping us all on the same compass bearing no matter how rough the seas may be.

Here's to all of us in that Dodge Dart that finished the trip. And especially to those who didn't.

[D W]

I live in a community where every other person is either active duty, Alaska National Guard, retired military or prior service veteran. All branches are represented here. You can drive through any neighborhood and see the different service flags flying. You can also see all the rigs with VETERAN Tags on them. Our DMV has tags for all branches including the Guard.

[NJKris]

Still less than 1%. Sadly and not that surprisingly, recent polls of people of age to serve show that 75% would refuse to serve if US got into a major war. We are doomed. Maybe not too late to learn Mandarin.

[Sunseeker16]

I'm not ex military, I missed being drafted to Vietnam by a small margin. As a young kid I was scared to death at the thought of going if I was called. I can't imagine the horror our vets went through in any theater or role. For anyone who has served our country in any role to be disrespected personally or politically is unacceptable. Thank you all for what you gave to this country. Also thanks to the military familes that kept home running while our heros served this country.

[CowboyDave]

2010 I believe it was, I had the privilege to meet Don Malarkey, you know him from Band of Brothers movie. He was the Grand Marshall of the Albany Oregon Veterans Parade.
After some time talking about his past, he asked of mine and at the end. I told him thank you for carrying the torch from D Day to VE Day, I was ever so humbled when he told me, Thank You for having the fortitude to pick it back up. I corresponded with 200 young Men during Iraqi Freedom and two of them were my nephews. we had the same conversation that Mr. Malarkey and I had. It still comes down that we may not have served together but we sure chewed the same dirt. We few, We very few
Garry Owen