It makes me uncomfortable when people directly thank me for my service. It just does. I do not mind when people thank veterans for their service, their sacrifices, but when it comes to personal, one-on-one direct comments of appreciation, I would much rather people don't. It's not that I do not understand their want, their need to thank a veteran, especially today, on Veterans Day. A day that began as Armistace Day, a day celebrating the November 11th, 1919 signing for the Treaty of Versailles, which ended The Great War, World War I; well, we all know that wasn't the "war to end all wars"...in fact today we are at war in so many different locations, domestic and abroad, it is diffcult to know who the enemy is anymore.
However, back to my uncomfortable situation, which grows every year, and it is my own fault. People know I am a veteran. I wear it proudly. I have even gotten involved with one of the local VFW posts (Veterans of Foreign Wars), helping fellow veterans when I can, doing what I can, what small things I can do. But I have never wanted, nor needed the recognition. Thank you, for all those that have tried to give me thanks, or who have, and I apologize if my uncomfortable nature made you feel uncomfortable, that was not my purpose. I just feel there are other veterans that deserve all our praise more, and not just the veterans, the ones that have left the service, but the active duty military that will one day be called "veteran".
Memorial Day is for remembering those that died in the service of our nation or those veterans or active duty military that passed away either away from the battlefield or from old age, those sailors and Marines, those airmen and Infantrymen, those are the folks we remember on Memorial Day.
Veterans Day is for those that used to wear a military uniform but are now retired, returned to the civilian workforce, in nursing homes, in our schools as teachers and instructors, in our jobs as co-workers, bosses...those veterans that put their lives on the line for our nation. They deserve our praise, our thanks.
Did I put on the uniform? Yes. I was running from Life. I hid in the military, not wanting to face it. Instead I got an education unlike any other, I got to visit exotic lands, learn lessons the hard way, all alone even when surrounded by hundreds of others because family, true life long friends they were all thousands of miles away, both physically and mentally, emotionally, in every supportive way possible. It makes you an independent person, although one that can function as part of a team, because if you do not, you do not last.
But I have always felt my service was little, compared to the sacrifices others have made. It's just the way I've always been. So when you thank a veteran, do not be distrurbed if they do not react like you think they should. We all deal with our roles, the parts we have played, differently through the prism of time.
