I know this is gonna make many people mad (although this blog isn't read by many anyway), but I find many veterans braggadocious about their service. I support and appreciate the special parades and memorials put forward each Veteran's Day, but as a veteran who did my job and was compensated for it, I need no special recognition.
I believe Veteran's Day is a day of remembrance for those who've given their all in service to our country and suffered as a result. Veteran's Day is not a happy day. For those of us who were paid, clothed, fed and housed by a grateful nation appreciative of our service, no additional special recognition is needed. If you want to say thank you, I'll respond with a polite, "you're welcome" and you are. Thank you to the United States of America for the opportunities you gave me and the support you continue to offer us veterans.
I am glad I served and feel honored to have done so. I appreciate that like many, my superiors and nation took me, faults and all, and used me as they needed.
For those who think I'm being silly, consider that the military is a microcosm of our society with good and bad. Therefore, not all who served were the romantic heroes we so often portray them to be. I know I wasn't one. I have the perspective of more than 12 years of military service in two branches and I know some were people who had the choice of jail or military, some joined to learn discipline, some stayed in because the retirement benefits were better than they could get anywhere else and some joined to gain an education.
For me, I joined for three reasons; 1) I was patriotic and wanted to be in the US Military, 2) I wanted some education and wasn't going to college to get it, and 3) the military would pay me while I got that education.
You see, I believe I was just doing my job. The heroes were the other guys. One of the heroes was a 17 year-old I saw die from exhaustion in Army Boot Camp. Two other heroes were the guys badly burned from a boiler blow-out onboard my first Navy ship. Other heroes (for me) include the helicopter pilots who took me safely from land to a carrier in the Persian Gulf. Another hero is my deceased Uncle who flew missions during Vietnam. The Drill Sargent (Ellis) who wouldn't give up on me is a hero (I wonder where he is today).
But as for the rest of us, and there are millions of us, we were just doing our jobs.
I agree with you, I tend to think that the fact we have been a nation at war now for over 10 years combined with a 24hr news circuit has put a spotlight on military service. It seems that to give a simple thank you is politically incorrect and everyone tries to ensure their thank you in known, hence going over the top. Being a 26 year vet serving during the cold war and the 90s reduction in force I remember a lot of veterans days that almost went un-noticed. It was more local to military areas and news outlets covered the WWII or or Viet NAM vets. Its only been in the last few years with that more has been made of it to the point of over bearing.
ReplyDeleteI do believe for those who have been maimed and for family's who lost loved ones the extra is justified and all should be done to help them out and provide extra support. The rest of us (The majority) who volunteered to put ourselves up to protect our way of life but didn't get harmed may have a different point of view.
For me I got a lot more from my experiences then I would have if I didn't volunteer and thus I'm more grateful to the service that gave me those experiences.
So I think its perspective, those of us who served as you pointed out have all have seen and known of those who did give the ultimate sacrifice. So its a bit weird to us when someone who doesn't have that background comes up and is grateful for our service we feel it somewhat undeserved. As an example for me I think of the men on the USS Thresher(SSN593) who gave their lives July 1960 while doing sea trials on a new class of submarine. The ship was in a uncontrolled dive due to equipment failure and despite this their underwater coms were maintained as she went down with the crew knowing the end result calling out the depths every foot until they crushed and went silent. The results provided data on ship limits and were also the beginnings of the sub-safe program which has proved itself by us not losing another sub. This crew are the heroes I think of on veterans day