Last thing I swear. I saw an older gentleman with a USS Forrestal hat on. If you know any Naval history there was a huge fire on that ship and this is where every Sailor now knows about Damage Control and takes it seriously. He was on the ship when it happened. He recounted his stories and after I thanked him profusely, because it saved my life two fold, I left and wept. He was the true hero. When you see a Vet hat, please stop and thank them for their service. You might learn a thing or two.
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Seeing as we canât mute ourselves, I can mute you if it makes you feel better.
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This is just the kind of team spirit rooted in random compassionate acts that âgirds our loinsâ ! 
Random compassion is both my blessing and curse. My ex-wives will attest to that.
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If it were not for the stochastic neural firings, I might never have earned the moniker of âraving nightlyâ:
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While the stated goal of locking everyone in their houses is to save lives, I wonder how many will lose their lives from being locked up in their houses.
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I had the honor of meeting and talking with a survivor of the Bataan Death March. When I thanked him for his sacrifice, I was floored when he told me that I was the first to do so. I was already misty eyed, but seeing that solitary tear slide down his cheek just broke me.
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And itâs only within the last 10 years or so that Iâve noticed a trend with civilians actually expressing thanks. I myself have never gotten used to being thanked.
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You should be thanked. You did what so few do.
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I still have an issue with that. I canât help but doubt the sincerity of the thanks when itâs the same liberal that spat at me in 75 because that was the socially cool thing to do then.
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Conversely, I sometimes wonder if itâs just being âsocially coolâ these days also.
Me: Why are you thanking me?
Random civilian: Because I heard weâre supposed to thank you guys.
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I donât know @TorturedZen, from my perspective I donât know if âSocially Coolâ and âMilitaryâ are bedfellows.
I firmly believe more people now, are starting to get it, but just my .02.
I have never heard that.
Yep. Happened to me in a Walmart of all places.
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Look there are times in this world when shit hits the fan. None of it happened to us in the USA. When 911 happened shit changed. It is a damn shame it took 911 on US soil for the change to happen. What is weird is WWII happened on US soil and thanks were given. So do not know what the issue is but know this, @TorturedZen and @SmilingOgre you have my thanks!
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I spent 4 years in the Air Force on a Titan II Launch crew. I then spent two years in the 26th Yankee Division, National Guard in the AG Corps.
My opinion of this âThank You for your serviceâ is that it comes across as mainly empty and insincere. No doubt there are some who truly are thankful, but I would bet that most of us could identify many of them with just a bit of information about them. It just seems to me to be social conditioning for most. If people really cared about those who served, then why are there so many issues with vets? The VA can be quite the nightmare, though my experiences (the last was 23 years ago) were fine. I just feel that the gratitude stops at the end of the sentence. How many contact their reps to voice their opinions for support of vets? How many contribute either financially or with their time to help the thousands of vets who need help? How many would actually put the needs of the vets above other social issues? We see people on the streets demonstrating for a number of things, but when was the last time a demonstration was held, by non-vets, to improve the conditions of many vets?
Bear in mind I havenât lived in the US since 99 so Iâm only going on second-hand info here. Iâve never had anyone thank me for my service and Iâm not sure I want anyone to do it. Btw, I sat in a hole in the ground in Arkansas for three long yearsâŚdamn that sucked! A little sympathy would be better than some gratitude. 
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Looks like standard boiler-plate âwell-oiled administrative justice machineâ smoothly âhumming alongâ ?
Seems like not at all some glowing picture painted (in many of the ProPublica reports linked-therein).
I wonât offer sympathy. You signed a contract. Rather than thank you then Iâll be more than happy to call you âbrotherâ. And of course that term is way over-used by some people for the sake of sounding âsocially coolâ.
But you (and all veterans here) have my respect brother. 
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Thanks. I was joking about the sympathy part. Ok, well maybe a little bit for that young Boston boy spending three years in Arkansas.
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