I was an American soldier once. Now I am a veteran. I do not wear my old uniform. I do not show off my medals. My time in uniform is over. I will not talk with you about my “war stories”. Those are for those of us that have. We do not want to be called heroes. We are not special. We do not want to be treated differently. While we appreciate the sentiment behind the “thank yous” it is uncomfortable for us to hear. We volunteered for our service, we knew what we were doing and most of us would happily and willingly do it again, without hesitation. Most of us are not heroes, but some of us were fortunate enough to have served with some. Many served their time in uniform without incident. Some of us got to experience the worst and best of humanity. I do not ask for your thanks, your admiration or your pity. I do ask for your respect and your understanding. We do not always see the world the same way you do. We do not always take issue with the same things you do. We do not always laugh at the same things you do. We find beauty in the simple things. We find laughter at the absurd. We take issue with anyone or anything that takes away from our freedom and our safety. We are sometimes quick to anger. Often too quick, but this is how we were trained. To be able to use that energy and focus to overcome threats and obstacles. A threat is something that jeopardizes our safety or security. We perceive many things as threats. Understand that we cannot always have the clarity to not react quickly and decisively. Our minds work differently now. Our perspective has changed, so have our priorities. We value our relationships, but do not always understand how best to maintain them. We cannot understand why things need to be fixed if they are not broken. We value the brotherhood. We value our friendships. We value our family. And we will do anything to make sure that those things, above all others, are safe and secure. While everyone likes to celebrate Veterans Day, it often means something different for us. Parades, people smiling and showing appreciation. We get it. But for us it is a day to remember our service and those sacrifices that we have made. Especially the sacrifices of those who bore the ultimate burden. So if we seem stoic, or detached or even angry, understand that this is our way of dealing with things that might be uncomfortable for us to acknowledge or think about. Understand that we have our issues and that one day cannot wash away a lifetime of anger, frustration, guilt, pain and sorrow. We do not expect you that have not seen the world through our eyes to understand. How could you. What most of us would ask is that you treat all of us and each other as well as you do on Veterans Day. Open doors for people. Say thank you and please. Be kind to others. Be understanding. Be less selfish, less greedy. Do not always say “me first”. We put service over self, and we do most days. If you really want to honor us and those of us that have served, live up to those ideals that we have tried to. Most days you will fail, just as we have. But in the trying to be a better man, a better person, you validate all that we have fought and suffered for, for over two hundred years and you carry on the work that we have tried to do. To make our community, our country, our world a better place.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 21:15:50 +0000