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

I think it's more in the way we respond or react. As many times as someone has thanked me and really meant it there have been just as many who thanked me, more for their personal reasons and usually to make themselves look better than the next person in line. I like to respond with either, it was all my honor or it was my privilege followed by, DID YOU SERVE? That usually separates the two.

40 years ago I was spit on at a civilian gas station in Spokane Washington while in uniform. After that I spent decades keeping my service close to my chest. My attitude changed over time along with the entire country and I finally came out of the closet, so to speak, on my military past. I was proud of my service and now I felt I could finally show it. Hence my veteran baseball cap with the American/Viet Nam Flag and military (Air Force) hat pins.

Now to your question. It does bother me a little. The very first time someone said that to me was in 2013 at the grocery store. I had on my Viet Nam hat. I was surprised and grateful when I heard it. I never saw any of the welcome home fanfare one sees today nor had I experienced any respect for my time with Uncle Sam. However, the first few times people said it to me were great but then I started hearing so often. It now seems so homogenized like telling someone "have a nice day".

I'm a Nam Vet, and lifer...I spent 20 years in uniform on active duty. The first time someone said thank you to me was in a boarders book store, about 10 years after I retired. A young black woman approached me and asked me if I was a Viet Nam veteran...when I acknowledged that yes, I was, she thanked me for my service and kissed me on the cheek...I had tears in my eyes...after all the bad words, feelings, and hatred for the past 20 + years, I was very moved. Never knew the young lady's name, but her kindness and sincerity were more then welcome. For you youngsters, appreciate and accept the thanks. When we returned from Nam, we were not thanked, we were spit on, ridiculed, badmouthing and outcast. Be thankful that you are appreciated and be grateful for the words and thanks of anyone and everyone.

I say Thank You to anyone who thanks me for my service. It doesn't bother me to hear it and it actually feels good to be recognized. Inherently, I think anyone who says Thank You to me is sincere and good hearted. I haven't received one negative remark from anyone hearing I served my country...only positive. Plus, it sparks a friendly conversation.

Doesn't bother me. I actually appreciate it. On veteran's day my church plays each branch's song and asks vets of that branch to stand a be recognized. I think it's a nice touch.

anything is better what came in the 60's and early 70's butas someone pointed out lately we took an oath to protect and defend which had a start date but NO END DATE I think most would still protect and defend

I think it's ok to thank a vet like that but my question is why did it take us getting attacked before vets got thanked for what they have done

It is good that Americans are thanking their service men and women for their service to their country even though they volunteered to do so. It was an honor for me to serve this great country and I am privileged to do so as retired soldier today. It means they have finally come to accept the sacrifices we service members make in their behalf.

The thank you's did not come when I returned from Vietnam back in 1972 at 19 years old. It took several wars or skirmishes for this to have happened. You had Grenada and Panama which were for causes that most Americans supported and then you had the first Gulf War to get Saddam out of Kuwait. It was only after that point that the thank you's started coming and rightfully so.

As for this retired Vietnam vet, I am still pissed at the way the media treated Vietnam veterans; baby killers and drug addicts we were called to say the least. In fact my own future father in law, a Greatest Generation veteran even asked me whether i killed any babies or whether I am a drug addict or not. I was dumbfounded and did not know how to respond to the question at the time other than to deny it which was the truth. We were so young and only doing our jobs; whether we enlisted as I did with my twin brother or we were perhaps drafted as were millions of others men.

Like some, who will never forget what Jane Fonda did, I will never forget how a generation of soldiers were treated as the hands of the press! And I do believe it was the press who enabled Americans to treat their returning soldiers in the manner that they did.

It really depends on the context. If a young person goes to the effort to walk over to me and say those words (usually, but not always at the prompting of their parents), I go out of my way to respond with deep appreciation. If someone says those words with even the slightest bit of sincerity, I do feel good about it and try to be gracious.

Where those words make me want to respond with with indignity is when they are said as if they are being read from a script. No where have I heard that kind of expression more than at Department of Veterans Affairs facilities. During my orientation at the Austin VA Outpatient Clinic, for example, the administrator leading the session uttered those words no less than 4 times, and each and every time it sounded like it was being read.

I'd just as soon not have to hear it uttered by someone who couldn't give a flying flip whether or not I served. We used to have a saying in the National Guard...if it wasn't for the drilling Guardsmen, the AGR full time force wouldn't have a job. I can only hope that that the new DVA leadership will work to institutionalize that understanding within the Civil Servant work force at VA facilities.

No, makes me feel a little better that my service wasn't in vain