Love A Veteran

I have recently had the opportunity to see the change in the attitude of the American people. It seems that the way that ordinary citizen’s look at a member of the military has changed for the better. At one time a person who was wearing the uniform of the United States was looked down upon for serving our Country. Now it appears to have changed.

I was sitting next to a member of the US Army while I was at an airport waiting to board my flight. She was also waiting to board another flight. A civilian came up to her and made the comment: “Thank you for protecting my freedom.” I did not have an opportunity to ask her about that incident since she boarded her flight immediately after that incident. I will admit that it did make my day better despite not looking forward to a long flight. At one time I had a bumper sticker on my car that said: “If you value your freedom – thank a Vet.” I have had a couple of people leave messages on my car to say thank you. It was something that I had never expected and the bumper sticker was only on my car to remind people that all veterans have given part of their very ordinary lives to protect all of us. Many have given more than the rest of us and should be remembered all of the time. The fact that people are remembering the members of the armed forces and veterans, is a sign that the population has changed its attitude toward the members of the military.
My memory contains many things about being in the military and not one of them includes a thank you. I did have enjoyable times and it was not all depressing. The fact that a stewardess asked me to get the crew donuts in Atlanta does not count as a thank you. They were only desperate for the donuts and I was an easy mark on my way to basic training. The service we got from some airline staff, was more part of the airline respecting the money that the government was paying. Many people did hate the members of the military because, at that time, the military was fighting an unpopular war in Vietnam.
Was I hurt? No, but many of the people who I knew, did receive much more of an attitude from the public. They still have not received the thanks that they earned for what they gave to our Country, or are still giving to this day, because of what happened to them during Vietnam. So thank you to all, from those of us who did not see actual fighting and who only did what we were told.