DU Vets: How do feel and or respond

[JANdad]

When someone says "Thank You for Your Service"?

I myself am somewhat offended (it is a difficult emotion to express so perhaps offended is not correct) but given the current political climate of this country, it is an unpleasant feeling to say the least...

For me, my choice to enlist and to "serve" was personal and I seek no thanks from anyone. I know what I did and that is enough for me.

Am I alone in this feeling or has the "Thanks for your service" been corrupted by the RW pundits (whom most btw have never "served")?

[DS1]

1. If often sounds canned

but then I'm a major cynic.

Note "often" does not equal "always"

[unhappycamper]

2. I usually say "Thank you."

I also agree with your analysis. These assholes have been corrupting the language for a long time.

[Jackpine Radical]

3. I was a draftee and infantryman in Vietnam, and can assure you

that none of my "service" was given willingly, so I have always felt really weird about that, especially considering that I don't see my "service" as actually having served anyone. It isn't like the world benefited from the blood of my own I left over there or the bloodletting I did in the interest of personal survival.

[madokie]

4. only a couple times its been said to me

many years after the fact it was and I was very uncomfortable with the statement. beings as how it is pretty obvious to all except the blind who choose to not see that it was wrong, what we were doing there in the first place. the reasons as I remember for being a volunteer was being raised in a very poor republican environment and I sure wasn't wanting to the see all them commies swimming the Rio grandee with nukes strapped to their backs and how the commies were ten feet tall and bullet proof so we had to stop them over there before they came over here. I was lied to then as our Troops are today so I don't want a thankyou actually, what I was doing was wrong as history proves it to be and I will forever live that shame

Add: I was in country only a few days a couple weeks at most before I realized the lie I would live with for the rest of my life

[AllegroRondo]

5. I usually just say thank you.

It seems like a lot of people just say that because they dont quite know what else to say about it, and want to be supportive.

[UTUSN]

6. It's irritating. It's usually from wingnuts. Plus, the younger ones who do it NOW

are usually boosters for the illegal, unprovoked Iraq Attack, yet THEY are not "serving." Chickenhawks.

[Ganja Ninja]

7. I just shrug it off. What really pisses me off is people collecting

charitable donations for the troops. As if nothing is wrong and charity for the troops is a perfectly fine if not admirable cause. Let me say this right here, The troops should not be considered charity cases! We have an obligation to them and the government should be fulfilling that obligation. If you have to collect donations for the troops then the government is not doing their job! If you want to honor someone's service then hold the government responsible for these obligations. Words are cheap.

[CANDO]

8. It's usually just a token gesture.

I think people are mainly going along with being politically correct. I have a brother in law who actively has stopped my nephew from signing up for the military even though he is a Bush supporter. Unbelievably hypocritical, huh? I rarely talk of my service so people don't generally know I've ever served. 5 Years/ US Navy

[MindPilot]

9. It is kind of a new thing...I usually just say "thank you"

I get the feeling that is one of those things that people feel a little obligated to say. I didn't hear it until maybe about three years ago. And after being told straight to my face back in the 70's "sorry, we don't hire veterans" it rings a little hollow 30 years later. I didn't feel welcomed home by the parades of Gulf War 1 where 41 declared "Vietnam Syndrome" ended, and I really look at the "thank you for your service" as a nice gesture, but the damage is done.

On Edit: I agree about it being corrupted by the RW; there is about as much real gratitude behind it as a magnetic yellow ribbon, and when a winger says it, it comes off as a bit condescending--like "thank you for scrubbing my toilet".

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

10. I usually feel perplexed. I spent 4 years doing nothing beneficial.

I marched, shot off guns, saluted, bitched and moaned, hated the officers, counted the days until freedom, broke the rules, just like the majority of the marines I was in with.

We did absolutely nothing of value to society.

Semper fi.

I look upon the "Thank you for your service" nonsense the same way I look at lapel pin flags and "support our troops" decals. Cheap displays of nationalism.

My response usually is, "If you only knew."

[MindPilot]

17. "We did absolutely nothing of value to society."

I second that emotion. I really go nuts when someone starts spouting the "defending freedom" or "fighting for your right to _____"

I harbor no illusions that I defended anything for anyone except maybe profits for the military industrial complex. And if the guys currently deployed were truly defending my freedom, they would be assaulting the White House.

[lonestarnot]

18. DITTO!

The biggest waste of time in my life.

[two gun sid]

11. I don't like it...

it makes me feel uncomfortable. I never know what to say to them. Like you say: The feelings are hard to explain.

[Jack Rabbit]

12. "Your welcome."

[JANdad]

13. Whew! For a minute there

I thought I was alone...

I always get a queesy feeling when someone says it to me...

[potisok]

14. I feel with my fingers ????

It has happened so few times, the first time I was thanked was when I went to counseling 20+ years after I got back, that was the counselor's first words, Welcome home and Thank you, my reply was fuck you, a little angry ??? I have never wanted to be thanked for what I did, once in a while it happens, I accept it better from another who was there. When our vets come home give them a job and proper medical care, they were promised, most will find that thank you enough.

I believe we could cure the veterans health care problems by offering our elected official the same care and bennies the vets receive.

USMC 70-72

Peace

Miss da monkeyman's voice

[NaturalHigh]

15. I thank them for acknowledging it.

Most people don't care about military service to our country.

[RushIsRot]

16. I feel it is a very hollow gesture from someone who did not see

fit to serve their country. I seldom acknowledge the comment when it is made to me.

[Toasterlad]

19. Wow

I had no idea so many people felt this way. I was in the Navy from '82 to '87. The most "action" I was involved in was the invasion of Grenada, and that was a fait accompli before my ship even got there.

When people (rarely) thank me for my service, I say, "You're welcome", and am, generally, grateful for the appreciation. It has never occurred to me to question the motivation or sincerity behind the words. What little I did, was, in fact, in the service of my country, and SHOULD be appreciated, as should the service of anyone that benefits the nation.

I suppose I would feel differently if I were drafted into service; I can definitely see how the words "Thank you for your service" could, in that case, be bitterly ironic. But I still believe that the majority of people who say it mean exactly what they say.

[Beausoleil]

20. No one's ever thanked me

Not that I care. I joined the USN in '75, got out in '79, not a good time to be recognized by civilians for your "service". Never saw any action, of course and was glad to get out. I never really thought about being thanked; I volunteered, got paid, got the GI Bill. And I definitely did not fight for anyone's "rights".