Does it bother you to hear "Thank you for your service!"?

I always appreciate the 'thank you's but really find them unwarranted. Loved being a Marine and would not have had it any other way. It does make me ache for the Viet Nam era veterans and the disgraceful way this country treated them upon their return.

Not a waste of time, brother. It makes me feel uneasy at times at work when we have a veterans day and memorial day ceremony, which is nice of them to set aside work time for, but odd that they don't know the difference between the two holidays. I haven't reached or earned memorial day honors.

I'm a Reservist, so fall under that vague category of "some people say you're active duty, but you aren't really....and you're still a veteran."

However, here are some things to consider. First, "thank you for your service" doesn't have a tense to it. It can mean "Thank you for what you have done," but it can just as easily mean "Thank you for being willing to serve." When I am in uniform and people thank me, it is for the sacrifices that I have made, but also for sacrifices that I'm willing to make on an ongoing journey. I don't think anybody ever fully leaves their time in service behind them. You are a part of a Family that is much more than nearly any other profession, and that bond doesn't ever die. After all, look at how many retired people are here at RallyPoint offering their experiences, consider how many Soldiers that you talk to and still try to offer your own experiences when they are struggling with a decision. Only you can take yourself out of the fight, and I can't speak for you...but I'm still breathing. I may be a bit older, a little fatter, and a bit more broken than I was even 7 years ago...but I'm 7 years wiser, still full of piss and vinegar, and always willing to do whatever I can for a fellow servicemember/veteran.

Furthermore, I'll lump in a second consideration too. It used to bother me greatly because I hear "Thank you for your service," but because I felt that I hadn't done enough. When I joined, I wanted to serve my Country and deploy to take the spots of people I knew that had multiple tours. I figured (naively) that if enough of us joined, people could stay home with their families and maybe not get chewed up by the meat grinder of war. After volunteering to deploy, they offered me a tour and I accepted before asking where. When I finally asked, they told me I would be doing a year in Wisconsin. As funny as it sounds, I was disappointed and embarrassed. 7 years later, I have 2 mobilizations and could never get a deployment.

When I get embarrassed by the lack of combat service, I remember a couple of things. First, I had a combat arms Master Sergeant that reminded me that when I joined, I said I was WILLING to deploy. That in itself is something. Additionally, I tried to remember that my job was to fight just as hard to keep the "garrison stupidity" from getting to my pre- and post- deployment Soldiers. By my "fighting" for them just as hard as if we were in a combat zone, I could help them focus on having a great transition or a great deployment as best as I could. My office was available to be open 24/7/365, as I always had my personal cell phone on me, and every one of my Soldiers had that PERSONAL number so that they could call if they had problems after they left my post. The commanders knew I was trying to help everyone I could, balancing the needs of the Army and the best interests of the Soldiers.

I think that most military folks worry about being obsolete, or wish that they'd have done more. My desire to keep someone home by taking a deployment, a combat veteran wishing he'd done another tour to maybe have helped some of his military family, a wounded veteran wishing he'd have been able to save a friend, a Medal of Honor recipient saying "I just did my job" and not considering the sacrifices. What a GREAT feeling though!! Again, not many professions can have the claim where people are constantly motivating each other to do more and better things. Be proud of what you've done, be willing to help others learn and keep the values and traditions that we hold dear alive, and be ready to fight for the ideas that you love. As long as you remember that, you're still useful.

Some thoughts on the "thank you for your service" movement.

http://joeforamerica.com/2014/04/stop-thanking-veterans-service/

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/11/help-veterans-by-taking-them-off-the-pedestal/281316/

"For many civilians, veterans are thought about in the span of football halftime shows, where we gawk at troops standing on the sidelines while the camera lingers on flags flapping in the wind. The word hero is tossed around and abused to the point of banality. The good intentions of civilians are rarely in question, but detached admiration has always been a stand-in for the impulse to do “something” for veterans."

No, I makes me feel good to know that other appreciate our sacrifices. It's when things go back to business as usual when you feel no body is paying attention.

One of my greatest peeves is to hear "Thank you for your service" in any business setting. Because, if I am going to do business with another person or company, the last thing I want to hear is that-they think they understand what I did, what I went through; this makes me feel like I'm just a dollar sign to them, and that is-insulting to me, and insulting to all of those that have gone before me, and especially those that have given their life in the line of combat. The phrase "Thank you for your service" entails everything you, your family, friends have endured together in this subculture (Armed Forces); not to mention those you are serving with, have served with, or brothers and sisters you have lost to war or to the effects of war after they come home (at whatever end of the spectrum).

No, but I often find it difficult to respond. What do you say to someone who thanks you? I often find myself saying, "Thank you for your support."

I always reply with, "thank you for your support." Usually it's the older generation that says that but when a young person says it it gives me joy somehow knowing that we haven't lost our youth from the PC of the left and surprisingly I have met quit a few of these youth who said they want to serve when the time comes. I just wish our Vietnam vets brothers where shown the same courtesy when they came home.

I, like you, am no where close to sitting down and growing feeble. But to those that give their thanks, I respond either with a simple "Your Welcome" or with "Hooah". The later is saved for other veterans or family of veterans (they understand).

I dont like to hear it. I was just doing what I said I was going to do when I signed on the bottom line. I didnt do it for the thank you's I did it because I needed some direction in my life and for the love of my nation. I appreciate there desire to recognize me, but I dont like to be put on the spot, I like to be in the backround