Thank You For Your Service

I get really frustrated with this discussion. Keep in mind, you are alive. Also keep in mind, that many never made it back.. From all these wars

WWII, -- From the Merchant Marines, Coast Guard, Army Air Corp, Air Force, Navy, Marines and Army, many of these never got their hand shake or a medal. And if they did, it was posthumously. They sit at the VA with pain in their heart. Very few talk to them and some think the VA Hospital are repositories for geezers.

Others were
Korean. One very old Korean Veteran told he me was never given the praise (that he deserved). Rather his small car was stuffed with paper to the height of his dash or higher.(homeless) Some said that he didn't want help.

Vietnam. - What a crappy thing that war was. From Jane Fonda, winning the hearts and minds and seeing friends who died needlessy and others spit on at home. During the Vietnam Generation, there was little fanfare. There was very little praise. The haughty villanous perpetrators (Hillary Clinton, the brightest and the best).

The Gulf Wars . Where we had Veterans discharged for saving kids from rape, in the sandy Meccas of hell. We had leadership that would praise a suitcase bomber and call it a clock. Veterans who spoke-out about their experiences, became persona-non-grata.

So these people (Veterans) who whine like petulant teens, where national pride was subsumed into a queasy metaphor of alleged enlightenment. Campus rapists see to this. Freshmen girls ARE NEW MEAT. . Sexual harassment anyone? Political correctness is doctrinaire but help and solutions are like student counsels in middle school, where defacto presidents do little.

The solution is this... When you go to the VA accost the elderly person and shake their hand. Let him tell you about his or her own agony or happiniess. Let that veteran feel good, if not for an hour or two.
So when a civilian thanks you! You do it for them.(the lost veteran) Older and wiser, they imagine their own Bunker Hills. Let us understand the handshake and comments, Remember you have big shoes to fill. Get the old man out of that car. Comraderie! And be accepting of praise. We carry the banner of a great nation the best and brightest (ACUTAL)
SSG Carlos Madden

There's a good discussion about this here as well in case anyone is interested

https://www.rallypoint.com/answers/does-it-ever-feel-uncomfortable-for-you-when-people-thank-you-for-your-service

https://www.rallypoint.com/answers/does-it-bother-you-to-hear-thank-you-for-your-service

I at one time did not know how to accept it until I got to DC, and saw the WALL and found my POW/MIA and other friends who never came back. Now I just smile and say thank you. on the opposite side of the coin, I never hesitate to acknowledge anyone in Uniform, and if I can recognize their era, I will thank them for their specific sacrifice and welcome them home, being specific to emphasize my Vietnam Brothers.