I never really know what the proper response is. And it's a little awkward now that I've got gray hair that folks are starting to say thank you for what you did a couple of decades ago, but I got a thank you twice today.

First was at the gas station. Overweight black lady one lane over noticed my plates (Texas allows for military branch license plates) and the second was a white guy who was older than I am that passed me and the grand kids on the sidewalk.

So if you've ever been thanked for your service, or if one day you are, what's the proper response to someone saying thank you? I typically respond with a thank you of my own because it's kinda nice to be recognized and thanked.

 

I say "Thankyou, I appreciate it."

It is nice isn't it. The last time it happened to me was a cashier at a gas station, a 50yo white guy. My sister calls me every Veterans Day and says thankyou.

 

I have the Oregon Plates for service connected disabled. They really kind of stand out like a sore thumb, but they are permanent, no expiration and free.
So I get it at the gas station every once in a while.

Usually I come back with something like, "Your welcome, it was a privilege".

 

I generally make light of it - say that it wasn't just an adventure, it was a job. I think a lot about the attitudes of the kids that were serving when I was in, and a lot of them got in trouble but at least they tried and believed in it at the start. Some lose that, I guess they just lose whatever they got from boot camp and got tired of trying. They don't remember why they joined up or somehow believe that life will be easier for them now. They don't want to live clean and focused anymore because IT IS HARD to live like that all the time...

A great many, I think, do it marginally. Just enough to stay in. You get used to a regular paycheck, and even so you hear: "GET A REAL JOB" a lot when you are serving, if your performance seems to slack up.

But YOU TELL ME how many times you can stay up all night standing watch and then go do a full day of work the next morning. How many are capable of that? The military turns you into someone who understands that you can do a lot more than you ever thought possible. But one day it seems to get old...

Trying to be so much more eats you up.

But you never forget it, and always believe in it


I don't really know what to say about it. We all get old and worn out one day. But it is still there all the time, because we did it before

And we always want to be like that...
Even if we can't anymore, for whatever reason

So what I say comes out of a book I read a long time ago, and it is this:
"Who must do the hard things? He who can..."

And I thank the nice people


For who we are, and were, was very special. Not everyone can even qualify to stand there in those uniforms on the night watch or under fire, but somebody has to or life as we know it would not be what it is. And our Government would not be able to conduct politics instead or WAR

 

I don't display anything that would give most folks a reason to thank me for my service. However, when I thank others a brief conversation may start up and they return the favor. My typical response is that I really did little more than fill a void to free up space so that the real heroes could go out and do their jobs.

Every Vet has a time, a place and a duty. I think most of them get that for what it is. For some....it all comes together to be something very special.
.

 

The guy who finally talked me into it said -

"Ya know? You might qualify, or you might not. You may decide you want out after a while and not make a career out of it. Or you might not choose to do it at all for all I know... But if you do you will become a part of the largest fraternity and sorority in the whole world. And you will always have a reason to be proud of what you did"

I'm glad it worked out.

That guy came with me to the recruiting station because he said: "If they try to bullstuff you I'll set them straight"

Two weeks later I was on an airplane bound for Great Lakes Illinois - a place I had never heard of or thought about before


This is an example of a voyage we take into our future, a formative moment when we walk through a door without being real sure what is on the other side. We don't know what will happen - but we KICK THAT SUMMITCH OPEN because it has to be better than where we were...

I apologise if I said that too strongly, but for me at that moment, it was what had to be done.


I knew it would probably be tough. And I did wonder: "What if I fail?"
Always and always we have that, the "WHAT IF I FAIL?" in front of us.

But if we don't try, that door will always be closed, won't it? And for me it worked out...

And I think that this applies to a whole lot more than just joining the military, we see that all the time every day. We doubt ourselves, we wonder if we are "GOOD ENOUGH".

From my own experience, yes we are


Consider that at the very worst - we will be back outside that door again, and can try something else. So never be afraid of change, do not be afraid of new circumstances. To do so is to confine yourself to diapers and never grow into who you could some day be


Today I began to hatch out tomato plants for my neighbors - they look to me to provide good things on their tables having shown the way to beating the $3 a pound prices of basic staples at the stores - this is what? Non-related to what people thank us for as vets, yes.

But it springs from the same well that made me proud to have served. I can do things for my community and those I care about even now when I no longer wear a uniform. I can help people to live well in a free country, and that really was what it was all about.



There are many ways to help people

I don't really know why, but I feel good about doing so


When you stop on the road - and patch a tire with a plugging kit. What does that mean? You got them home or to wherever they were going. They could have been stuck there....

It is my practice TO TEACH THEM HOW TO DO THAT FOR THEMSELVES (!)
*Give a man a fish - teach him how to fish - It's like that

So I have them watch me do it, and explain everything until I am sure they can.


What do thanks mean? To me it means passing on what I was taught, because by doing so I have shared what was given to ME.


So "THANK YOU" and all of that - in some ways it gets confusing in my mind. We should be doing these kinds of things anyway


And some people can do things - others cannot. It is up to WHO CAN to do what is necessary. So I believe

On the other website, this is where the BLUE MAX thing came from. The Urban Legend of the "BLUE MAX", was a trucker back in the seventies who would stop to help people on the road. It wasn't his job, and he didn't have to do it, and when people asked him who he was he just told them his CB handle, and suggested that they pass it on as good Samaritans


Even earlier, in the 1800's - when caravans crossed country and found people with broken down wagons - they would help eachother. And the saying was: "Them as can, is got to help them as cain't". So this is a very old legacy...


So what does "THANK YOU" really mean?
It means I did what I was supposed to do in a society that cares about one another

(if I could)

That is what I think "THANK YOU" means - it means you did well




~Wolf out

 

Interesting topic to me as I find this a strange phenomenon in that no one thanked us grey beards back in the day? Generally, I minimize my service and say thanks.

 

"...gray beards..." ugh, thanks for reminding me that the hair that ain't fallen out is gray. Speaking of no thanks -- In '71 going overseas from SF airport i was cursed, and in '73 was on leave in Kansas and spit on. Kansas! fer chrissakes.

 

Awe, come on Rex! You know the Hare Krishna at SFO loved ya!

 

The Krishna's were entertaining, and or the robed bearded white guys with the long clubs, errr...walking sticks, it was my Marin county cousin cursing for having to drive through rush hour to meet me for a drink



edit: :sarcasm:

 

Only airport in the world where you could get slapped, called baby killer, spit on, drunk, converted into a religious cult and taught how to sing all in the space of a few minutes and one concourse!.......

 

I forgot all about the Hare Krishna's - I actually had to go look up what they were about since all I remember about them was that they were an almighty nuisance in airports

Bhaktivedanta Swami prescribed four regulative principles, in relation to the four legs of dharma, as the basis of the spiritual life:

• No meat-eating, including fish or eggs;
• No illicit sex (including that which, even within marriage, is not for the procreation of children);
• No gambling;
• No intoxicants.

~Looking at that, you can see why a lot of people would have no interest in them - and that GAY PEOPLE (in theory) should hate their guts...

I bet Timmy is absolutely repelled by them

 

SFO was an interesting place for sure, and those seats were real comfortable to sleep on (not). Military standby just wasn't real good for scheduling connecting flights close together. The airlines and stews were always gracious and friendly though. I once got upgraded to 1st class on one of the early 747's because there was room. That's real friendly.

Travis was better set up for 'us', not as entertaining but everything we needed. Treasure Island was not a great place for transit holdover, open bay barracks and such. We had our big electronics school there.

Speaking of those times, i hope to heck our young troops are not treated like half the public did us then. Because it's likely we're going to stay in wars or 'expeditionary actions' for a while. A waste of troops and treasure, but better than the alternative. With the GOP in charge of gov't, I'll be real glad if the Dem congress people keep up their support too.

#ad

 

oops double post

 

Seven years back, I traveled to NAS Corpus Christi to visit my daughter and brand new granddaughter who were stationed there. We stayed in the base "hotel" which was in a section of the old BOQ which had been nicely converted on the inside, but were still "barracks" by any description on the outside. (Boy have there been a lot of changes at Christi, almost didn't recognize the place!)

On our way home, we had a plane change in Houston. Having just left the base, I was wearing my Navy embroidered jacket my daughter and son in law had gotten me and my "has been" hat with the A/C wings and old rank insignia on it. As we walked up the concourse, a couple of people stood up and started clapping and cheering. They were joined by a number of others. Other than a fellow walking with us wearing a "Viet Nam Veteran" hat, there were no military or military uniforms in site. We looked at each other and the only thing either of us could say was just a quiet "wow". Very embarrassing for us, but in a way exhilarating as well.

Times could be a changing Rex. There may be a just a little bit of hope for the next gen's.....at least I thought so until the recent protests / riots hit the news cycle.