This video captures quite nicely the feelings that I and many other and many other Vietnam-era veterans have upon witnessing the respect so often commanded by our soldiers today. On the one hand, as veterans ourselves, we know how much those big “thank yous” mean. On the other hand, we got no such wonderful treatment ourselves – in fact, often quite the opposite. Most service men and women in the time that I served would avoid going off military facilities in uniform – as being in uniform (most especially before about 1974) was an invitation for abuse by our fellow citizens. We certainly didn't feel cherished – or even tolerated. Watch:
Last year I posted about a colleague of mine who gave me a big hug, a big “thank you!” and a Starbucks card on Veteran's Day. That was the very first time any of my fellow citizens have ever thanked me for my service (at that point over 30 years in the past!), and I was quite moved by the gesture. She did it again this year, and again I'm smiling every time I use that card.
I take every opportunity I can to say thanks in a meaningful way to a service man or woman I meet. I'm going to try to find ways to do the same for those veterans who, like me, were not thanked while they served...
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