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

Yes, it does bother me, because the first thing in my mind is all of those men and women who have given the ultimate sacrifice and will never hear those words .. Thank you for your service,

I was just doing my job

well, sometimes it's hard to tell whether it's has feeling behind it when people say it or if it's just something someone says to keep you moving along.

It is nice to receive an acknowledgment for service. I remember the welcome my uncle received coming back from Nam, not a nice welcome and the no big deal attitude or scorn that I received when I ETS'ed in 81. It is surprising but it is nice to hear.

No it doesn't bother me at all I like to here it because it reminds me of my service and the good times I had there

I never look at it in that manner, Most civilians will never know or understand what it takes to do the job "That we have done" So most people say it I think as an honor from them to us, There may be those who don't mean it... But i'm sure you can see those people a Mile away... Its hard to walk away from the Life... Because I know for me... It wasn't a Job but a Lifestyle .... Not everyone can do this....

Why the hell would it bother anyone? With all the other crap veterans have to deal with.,..and when all the ticker tape parades are over the week after a return from a deployment.. its nice to have someone say anything nice... Make my day... thank me.. I'll thank you back.

no not at all usually at that awkward break in conversation with civilians have nothing more to say to you

It doesn't bother me at all. I usually respond with "You're welcome and thank you for your support." I thank those from the Vietnam era whenever I see them because they came home from war to face persecution and receive very little anything from the government that sent them.

Mostly yes, it bothers me. I agree with what a lot of people here have said, that it's often said as a bit of an automatic thing, often to makes the utterer feel good.

On a more personal note, although I suppose I could have found myself in unpleasant circumstances (combat, POW, or whatever) during my four years in the Navy, I had a relatively easy time of it. America was generally at peace, no full-on war raging. (Although of course we did lose military members to acts of violence during my service in the mid-1980s.) The real "thank you for your service" should go to those that went and fought, or even deployed to support those that fought. Anyone that had a mortar round whistling towards them even once or a bullet zinging by deserves thanks more than I do.

I don't really like it. But, don't dis me either. I did what I did and it's done. But the problem is, if you don't insist on it, vets are/wlill be soon forgotten and all the things the country owes us, like health care, will go away. aSo, be careful about refusing a blessing.