So with Memorial Day Weekend upon us in the states, our county’s already rampant military appreciation is in full force.

This morning I was waiting in a cashier line and I heard the young girl behind the counter say to the man in front of me “thank you for your service,” and it got me thinking ...

I often wrestle with my feelings towards the military as a whole. In a country divided by the extremes, it’s hard to communicate appropriately how much I disapprove of our “industrial military complex” and yet still can respect the individual soldiers that are part of it. There’s no appetite for nuanced opinion, so conveying any of the above automatically means I hate the troops.

Similarly, I don’t believe being a soldier automatically earns my respect. Same as being a cop or firefighter or any other first responder. There’s no law that says only good people can work in these positions, but for some reason just wearing a uniform equates to “hero.” A lot of this is still the post-9/11 hysteria that still bleeds through into things like the National Anthem to this day.

I also believe the gun fetish of America and hero worship of the military are inseparable.

With so many people from other countries on this board, I’m curious what your thoughts are from the outside looking in. And for those in this country, where do you land on your viewpoints of the military?

There was a time in this country not so long ago when soldiers were CONSCRIPTED with no choice to fight America's wars. So you bet your ass I have a great appreciation for our men and women who volunteer for military service so the rest of will not be forced to do so.

And I absolutely believe you can be opposed to a war and still support the men and women fighting it. Because those are OUR mothers and fathers,OUR sons and daughter, OUR brothers and sisters and I will NEVER root against them when they go into battle. At the same time I do feel it is important to hold those in power accountable so that their lives are not wasted on foolhardy campaigns.

As a retired military veteran I don't allow myself to get drawn into the never-ending ending debate of how people feel about my service, it's a no-win situation.

However, I'll speak on something I'd like everyone to remember. The holiday that is Memorial Day is for honoring those men and women who fell in the line of service, which surely should be something none of us should have an issue with. These were those who gave their lives and whether it was in a conflict that you could view as necessary, or not, it's about them. For those of us who served and have gone on to live long lives, the holiday is Veterans Day and if someone doesn't choose to celebrate with the people who served, I'm fine with that. I understand that many people don't support the troops who served in conflicts since WW2, because it isn't easy to always justify those conflicts. I'd just simply ask that we remember to separate the troops from the conflict, you can support one without having to support the other.

I agree wholeheartedly with thereallt .

I was a military wife for 7 years. I had never been exposed to the military before then. It opened my eyes to a great many things. I had friends killed overseas, went with one of my best friends to pick up her husbands body while carrying her 1 and a half year old and holding the hand of her 4 year old. I've watched close friends (including my ex husband) becomes shades of their former selves or even lose everything because they didn't come back whole physically or mentally. And I've watched as our Veterans Affairs & Government turned their back on them after sending them to fight injustices and wars started because of politcal agendas and greed. So no, I don't agree with war, but I damn sure support the troops and I do believe the two are seperate.

May those who paid the ultimate price know peace and their families be comforted on this Memorial Day. 

I respect the service, be it voluntary or conscripted, even when I don’t agree with its use or generally like the person. I’ve met enough veterans at this point to know they’re not all winners, but they gave years of their life to do something that I’d never want to do ever and that’s commendable. It doesn’t deserve a free pass, but I also have no problem thanking a vet for their service. 

I do find American attitudes to troops very strange. I deeply appreciate the sacrifices that people have made and I appreciate days of rememberance and I support charities that veterans...but the level it's taken to in America just feels like virtue signalling and forced at times. Vets walking around in their uniform getting thank-yous and discounts and getting to the front of the line is just all a bit forced and weird. I feel very much like Larry David when I see it all:

I'd much rather this current day troop support than the bullshit "welcome home" that Vietnam vets got.

In a polarized country where only the extremes seemingly end up in the zeitgeist, I'd prefer the positive extreme in this case over the negative extreme.

I feel i have an interestingly warped experience with military patriotism as my father is a Vietnam veteran that never spoke of his time in the military in high regard.

He was up to be drafted,so he enlisted, his brother was already there. Enlisting and having a brother there got him some more favorable circumstances. Another of his brothers went to Canada to dodge the draft.

My father has no resentment towards my draft dodging uncle. My Dad simply feels he did what he had to. He already had a job when he got deployed. He still speaks of how it was nice to come back to his union job with seniority even though he was gone.

He never refers to it as his service, sacrifice etc. He just says he did what he had to do. Not in some cold, 500 mile stare way. But in basic way. He does speak of his time there and getting sent off to Australia for a leave. He worked in interrogations and was scared shitless during his early time. Learning to tell by noise outgoing and incoming bombs is apparently unnerving.

He wants no mention of his time in nam at his funeral, nothing in the obit. He is not ashamed. He is not proud. It was something he did. Something he had to do.

So, I have a hard time putting military service on a pedestal. The man in my life who did serve didn't put it on a pedestal.

Plus, I grew up a skater punk and listened to anti establishment punk rockers who never supported any war. So far I haven't seen a war I can say i support. I don't personally see the sacrifice that people who choose to do a job as great if i can't get behind what they are signing up to kill or be killed for. I guess if our military was involved in humanitarian efforts around the world that I understood the international factors of I could get behind it. But I graduated in 93 and the perception was we were fighting for oil. And then the perception was we fought a war of false pretense for bush to hunt for wmd s that weren't there. If you sign up to blindly kill because of whatever cause they deploy you to I can't say I dig that. Maybe it is because of my father or bad punk music or fighting for oil, but I just don't get it.


As a former EMT and emergency room triage medic you don't owe anything.  I went to school, knew what i was getting into and did it as a choice.  It may have given greater gifts to others than many of my other jobs but nah. It doesn't mean you owe me respect.

I respect our troops for signing up so I don't have to. That's it for me. My hubby is a vet and he still has nightmares about it. Not to mention some of the things he was forced to do, he is ashamed of.

And that's that. We don't speak of it anymore. When we were dating, he opened up to me about the nightmares and what went on over there while he was deployed. Was very eye opening. I have much respect for anyone who goes through that because I know I never could.

As for the military/vet discounts, I feel it's a small price to pay for the sacrifice they were willing to give to this country. At this point it's the best we can get. Still waiting on the VA to decide he is worthy enough for a loan to buy a house....

So, on a few topics...

PB mentioned troops wearing their uniforms in public. Most of the time that is required, it's mandatory during general duty hours. That includes any time spent off-base, including ordinary stuff like filling your gas tank, or getting a bite to eat.

theend, I totally get what your Dad feels toward his service. I seldom talk about my military career, except with other veterans. I don't enjoy people making a big deal over it, quite often it can become a little annoying even. I didn't do it for some foolish notion of glory. It started as what I considered a good career choice,provided me with a good income, paid for the college education that my parents weren't able to afford and best of all it allowed me to retire at age 40. I sometimes get a little bored, but then I remember all of my friends are working 40 plus hour jobs, while I'm playing video games, or fishing.

As for a military discount. I've never used it, I just don't think any special group deserves one and that includes seniors, students and so on.

As for my Memorial Day, I spent about 4 hours at two different cemeteries placing flowers and cleaning around the grave sites of local veterans who have passed on.

Considered that my dad is 70 and has had two careers. Two long term wives and a grip of other accomplishments. I can see his teenage years in nam not being the one pivot point in his life to hang his hat on.

I grew up as a military brat and despite that I never really had an admiration for those in uniform. I've kinda looked at saying Thank You for Your Service as an involuntary reply, like saying you're good/fine when a cashier gives you a generic greeting. I did end up enlisting several years ago, but was discharged before completing basic training so I know for a fact that it's something I could not do. Because of that I can appreciate those that have served, but I don't look at them as heroes for doing so. At least anymore than any other profession.

I certainly support anybody putting their life on the line so I don't have to. However just because somebody serves in the military shouldn't grant them the "asshole" pass. If your a dick to me, i'm not going to gush over you because you served in the military. I mean brave act no doubt, but doesn't give you a permit to be an asshole. I was on flag raising duty at school and this day was exceptionally windy so as I took the flag down and unclipped it the wind caught it and it ended up hitting the ground. At that moment some janitor or groundskeeper saw it hit the ground and just started berating me for letting it hit the ground. It wasn't intentional, it wasn't a political statement, it was just windy and he acted like I smeared shit on the flag. So yeah, fuck that guy, he's not getting a "thank you for your service" from me acting like a dick. People who are overly patriotic can be just as obnoxious as people who don't give a fuck about patriotism.

May 30, 2018 21:42:16 GMT vendrell said:

I certainly support anybody putting their life on the line so I don't have to. However just because somebody serves in the military shouldn't grant them the "asshole" pass. If your a dick to me, i'm not going to gush over you because you served in the military. I mean brave act no doubt, but doesn't give you a permit to be an asshole. I was on flag raising duty at school and this day was exceptionally windy so as I took the flag down and unclipped it the wind caught it and it ended up hitting the ground. At that moment some janitor or groundskeeper saw it hit the ground and just started berating me for letting it hit the ground. It wasn't intentional, it wasn't a political statement, it was just windy and he acted like I smeared shit on the flag. So yeah, fuck that guy, he's not getting a "thank you for your service" from me acting like a dick. People who are overly patriotic can be just as obnoxious as people who don't give a fuck about patriotism.

Something I've noticed based on friends and family whom I know experienced combat during their military service... The guys who's actually seen and been in the shit usually aren't the annoying fucktard types who wave their service and patriotism in other people's faces. In fact, I'd wager that those that do do that kinda thing are really the minority. The whole 80/20 Rule or whatever that cliche about bad apples is. Generally speaking (ironically) I think vets generally don't like to be broadly generalized... but I think a fair generalization is that most tend to be relatively quiet about their service and conduct themselves in a respectful manner. Nothing wrong with returning that respect.

Plus, you shouldn't have let the flag hit the ground, picklefucker.

My dad was unemployed, saw a bus go passed that had an ad for joining the army..sonhe did, and 20 years later he left (with pension as well).

Almost this 1:09 😂

My mother was in the army as well for a shorter time.

Despite this I’ve never really held a strong opinion on it, it doesn’t seem to be prevalent as much in Australia until the week of ANZAC day and that’s about it.

I grew up a military brat with my father serving in the Navy. I respect veterans and the sacrifice they made serving our country to provide for the freedom that I and millions of others have. That’s all there is to it for me, I have nothing against veterans even the ones that can be unpleasant to be around because I don’t know what kind of personal demons that they may be going through to cause them to act that way.

My father has suffered from ptsd but not as bad as others that have suffered from it. He doesn’t speak often about his time when I see him, I don’t know how he feels about his time their either but he does appreciate the respect he’s shown by people when they thank him for his service when he wears a hat for the ship he was on.