“Thank you for your service”.

 “Thank you for your service”.

 I have become aware that members of the general public, when they encounter service members in public, will often tell them “Thank you for your service”.

It would never have occurred to me to say such a thing to a veteran. These are people who were willing to risk their lives, to be shot at and injured, sometimes grievously, to suffer PTSD and other traumas that last long after the event and often in the cause of futile or even wrong conflicts waged by politicians who have other agendas than defending the nation, surely requires gratitude on the part of the rest of us. But it is precisely for that reason that telling a stranger who happens to be a veteran “Thank you for your service” seems so glib and shallow.

It appears that some veterans seem to feel a similar sense of discomfort at being thanked in this way.

I fought in Afghanistan. When people learn of my military service, I get a variety of comments — none more common than “Thank you for your service.” My response sometimes surprises people. I look them in the eye and say, “You’re welcome.”
…

Many civilians may genuinely wish to have played a larger role in America’s recent conflicts — if only from the home front. In lieu of participation, they offer thanks. Society has normalized this practice, with the result that some Americans consider uttering thanks to be a fulfillment of their patriotic duties.

This helps explain the surprise many people show when I say “You’re welcome.” All I mean is that I am proud to have fought for my country. But often the thank you means more to the person offering it than to the person being thanked.

When I sat on a panel in front of 75 Tillman Military Scholars — some of our best and brightest post-9/11 veterans — in July, I asked the audience who felt uncomfortable when thanked for their service. Almost every hand went up.
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 on behalf of my fellow Afghanistan and Iraq veterans, I say to the country: There’s no need to thank us. You’re welcome for our service. But take a minute to talk with us. Ask us where we served, learn about what we did in the military and find out what’s next in our lives.
I know people who are veterans. I know that for many, having been in a war is a painful memory that they would just as soon forget if they could. So I leave it up to them to bring it up if they wish to and am happy to talk about their experiences with them. But if they don’t, I don’t either.

Please don't thank me for my service

(I am a veteran, discharged. The following projects what my feelings would be if I were still in uniform today.)

I am an American fighting man. I serve in the forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense.

I wear a uniform proudly. Sometimes you see me wearing it in public -- on the street, in the mall, at the airport. And sometimes you, a complete stranger, will say to me: "Thank you for your service" or "Thanks for all you do."

I know you mean well. I know you want to express your appreciation that I have made many sacrifices to wear this uniform, that I have been put in harm's way, that I am prepared to give my life in your defense.

But, please don't thank me for my service.  Don't.  Don't thank me for all I do -- because I am not serving you, I am not doing anything for you. Not anything at all. I am not keeping you safe. I am not protecting you from any external existential threat. There are no external existential threats to our country.

The only threat to our country and to our way of life comes from within our own borders.  From plutocrats and the politicians they own.  The politicians who sent me and my brothers and my sisters into harm's way for no purpose.  To conflicts where thousands of my brothers and sisters died.  Where tens or hundreds of thousands of Iraqi and Afghan soldiers and civilians died (but who we don't count because they don't count because they are not like us). The same politicians who even when I return, even when I am out of uniform, continue to use me, continue to use my pain to manipulate the very people who elected them into voting against their own interests, into voting to send me and my brothers and my sisters to kill and to be killed.

I serve because I love the idea of America, of freedom, of democracy, of opportunity.  I serve with some of the finest people I have ever known.  I follow the orders I am given and go to the places I am sent because I respect and trust my chain of command.  My commanders and those I in turn command are courageous and honest and they have something that few people have -- they have integrity.  But those at the top -- the powerful who wield our military as their blunt instrument of destruction -- they have used the military and they have used me for their own deeply corrupt ends.

If you want to express your appreciation for my service and for all I do, do something for me. I have held up my end of the bargain. I am prepared to give my life in your defense. If you want to do something for me, if you want to do something for me in return, hold up your end of the bargain. Don't let me be sent to fight and die for no reason. Don't let me be tossed on the trash heap when I return from far away battlefields. Heal those wounds that I have on my body, on my mind, on my soul -- those wounds I have received because I believe in the true idea of America and because I believe in you.  The wounds that I received because my ideals have been manipulated and used against me and used against you and used against imagined and fabricated enemies and used to further enrich that tiny sliver of our society for whom no amount of wealth can ever be enough.

I am an American fighting man. You are an American citizen. You also wield a powerful tool. You have a voice and you have a vote. It might seem small and you may think you will make no difference. And you may have been manipulated by the messages you hear in the media about the world around you and about our society. But your voice and your vote, with your neighbor's and their neighbor's and their neighbor's voices and votes, those can make a difference. Those are more powerful, more meaningful, more effective than the empty words of hastily tossed "thank you." America is its people. Our government is of the people, by the people, for the people. It is not for the ruthless and privileged few.

Next time you see me -- and you will see me. Please don't thank me, don't thank me for anything. I am an American fighting man and I am proud to be an American fighting man. Don't thank me. Do something for me instead. Do what you have the power to do because you do have power and you can make a change.


http://josephfreedomoranarchy.blogspot.com/2014/07/donate-and-support-veterans-project_30.html