Some Don't Want To Be Thanked For Their Service

Saw a thought-provoking article in the NY Times about saying "Thank you for your service" to veterans.  Here's the link to the full story, followed by a few excerpts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/22/sunday-review/please-dont-thank-me-for-my-service.html?ref=opinion&_r=0
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To some recent vets, saying, "Thank you for your service" comes across as a shallow, disconnected, reflexive offering from people who, while meaning well, have no clue what soldiers did or what motivated them to go, and who would have never gone themselves nor sent their own sons and daughters.

To these vets, the "thanking phenomenon" symbolizes the ease of sending a volunteer army to wage war at a great distance.  It raises questions of patriotism and shared purpose.  Green Beret Mike Freedman says it "alleviates some of the civilian guilt," and calls it "patriotic gloss."

Veteran and author Tim O'Brien says that vets who believed in the mission like to be thanked, but others find the expressions of appreciation uncomfortable and disconnected from "the evil, nasty stuff you do in war."

Hunter Garth saw combat in Afghanistan and is among those who don't care to be thanked.  He says that as his patriotic fervor slipped away, the war for him became solely about survival among brothers in arms.

So what to say to a vet?  Offer them a job, said Freedman.
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We've all seen the "Support Our Troops" bumper stickers and banners.  (After more than a decade, the message seems more like a demand than a suggestion.)  While I've never met anyone who does not support our troops, I've met plenty who are opposed to our recent wars.  One does not necessarily lead to the other.

Now the hawks and armchair quarterbacks are clamoring for full-blown military action in Syria and Iraq.  Will this mean more troops to "support"?

Madness!  The best way to support our troops is to bring them home.