A question for Vets

[97077]

First I would like to thank all Vets for their and their families sacrifices for this great country. We have all seen vehicles with a bumper sticker that reads " My son or daughter is in the military" or "I'm a proud Vet from one of the wars" Now my question is, when I pass a vehicle that someone from the Armed Services is riding in would it be proper as someone who never served to salute as a thank you/ job well done? Or is there a way I can show my appreciation another way? Thanks. Kevin

[Motodan]

Just do something good for your country every chance you get...that would be the greatest "salute" of all.

Hill 55, DaNang 1970

[tourunigo]

Just do something good for your country every chance you get...that would be the greatest "salute" of all.

Hill 55, DaNang 1970

It was a sad time wasn't it? It really was. Leave the politics out. Do something good inside your country as well.... that is the greatest salute. Help the hungry, help the sick, help provide self sustaining options for citizens, educate, nourish, provide......

Just like 'death by a thousand cuts'; provide 'life by a thousand steps'.

Jus' me on a box tonight. - Bob

[jamesdunn]

Kevin, if you've never served you probably should not salute. I have served and do not salute. Just my opinion. A tribute of some sort would be good. What? Give to "Toys for Tots" or something similar. It is sponsered by the Marine Corps, and benefits children (You give new toys to a pick up station, such as a bank, car dealership, etcetera; great program!). Or give to, perhaps an organization that helps military families. There are meaningful and myriad ways to show your appreciation.

[tourunigo]

BTW... I always say thank you. I may not believe in the initiative but you special people who serve, no matter what, deserve the highest respect in whatever allied country you serve. - Bob

[GrafikFeat]

... is there a way I can show my appreciation another way?

Volunteer at a VA Hospital.
Drive Vets to a Dr. Appointment... etc etc.

Lord Knows they could use the help!

- Jim

USN 77-81

[PGlaves]

A smile, a wave, a thumbs up - all work for me.

[PineGreen]

A year or so ago I pulled into a local store and a women saw my Vietnam Vets sticker on the car [ I am an era vet , never been to Nam] and said thank you for your service. I said I was never in Nam, nor was I ever in peril during my 4 years ,and didn't do much of anything. She said it didn't matter , and thanked me again for serving our country. I thanked her and told her I appreciated her recognition. For a long time after I felt really wierd, actually I felt embarrassed, and felt I should have done more while in the service to defend the old US of A. Why should anyone thank me? I didn't do anything special. But it started me thinking, and made me more appreciative of those who really contributed to the preservation of this great country. So to all of you out there who "Saw the elephant" as the saying goes, who suffered physically or emotionally. Thank you and may God bless you and yours. George.

[bunkyone]

Hey all; A thumbs-up would be nice, George, don't feel bad, most military personnel that served during that time didn't serve in combat. That doesn't diminish your (or theirs) contribution to the security of this great country we live in. Don';t forget, while we were doing what our country called us to do, thousands of our fellow citizens packed up and ran away!! If anyone should feel ashamed, it's them!! Vaya con Dios, Dutch

[leadfoot]

First I would like to thank all Vets for their and their families sacrifices for this great country. We have all seen vehicles with a bumper sticker that reads " My son or daughter is in the military" or "I'm a proud Vet from one of the wars" Now my question is, when I pass a vehicle that someone from the Armed Services is riding in would it be proper as someone who never served to salute as a thank you/ job well done? Or is there a way I can show my appreciation another way? Thanks. Kevin

I am in the military, 25 years now. I have a military tag on my vehicle and have had several occasions when I had been passed by someone that saluted me. I wave back, as I understand. I appreciate that, and understand the intent of the gesture. If someone honked or waved it might take me a bit get the message. A salute is also a symbol of acknowledgement and respect, and when given should be taken as such. Throughout the years I have appreciated all the support that has been given, from a thank you in public places when I was in uniform, to someone secretly paying for my meal before I recieved the check. Either way, a direct or indirect thank you, or as suggested, just doing something for the country is fine. I think that if more people would show their support and pride for this country it would be an all around better place.

Thank You for asking!

Jim Mock
Master Sergeant
Army Aviation Maintenance Sergeant
Mississippi Army National Guard

[108625]

I served twenty years, and any gesture of appreciation is welcome.
The best one I ever got was the day after I returned from Afghanistan. We were in the grocery store and an old man wearing a Red & Gold USMC cap simply said thank you and shook my hand. I said the same to him.
The best thing you can do though; above and beyond anything else, is not squander the rights we fought to protect, and respect those of your fellow citizens.

[Texasdad]

Recently, a gentleman from Seattle created a gesture which could be used to express your thanks and has started a movement to get the word out..

Please everybody take just a moment to watch..... The Gratitude Campaign ...and then forward it to your friends! THEN START USING THE SIGN.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSfFYxSdKdo

[INDAWIN]

Add the USO to your Christmas list.

[jamesdunn]

Add the USO to your Christmas list.

Good idea! During my enlistment it is a place I frequented, and appreciated. They still need volunteers as well I'd assume.

[97077]

Thanks to everyone with their thoughts. I like the thumbs up and for me I will say "Thank you " to any Vet. I don't care if you served during peace time or war time, you serve our country you should be thanked. Kevin

[jnerges]

I am writing this note from my second tour in Iraq. Ever see that commercial where the soldiers are walking through the airport and people start clapping and everybody smiles, the soldiers appear a little shell shocked but they start to smile too? When you come home on R&R, you fly into one of two airports, Atlanta or DFW. As you walk into the airport, you hear this applause, it is just like the commercial. IT is truly a great thing to experience. :clap

I for one have no problem with someobody driving by saluting. Military or not. As long as it does not look like somebody is mocking it, I usually add a thums up. Just honking might mean I pissed somebody off behind me.:stick

As far as supporting the troops, I will always donate to the USO, they are an amazing organzation. On a personal note, if you really want to give a returning vet a gift. DON'T talk about politics. That is the hardest part for me. Folks may be well meaning but clueless. That's just for me.

One last story, after my first deployment in 03, My friend asked me to be part of his daughter's elementary school assembly for Veterans Day. They had guys from Viet Nam, Korea, WWII and OIF. The announcer was tossing the word hero around and as each vet stood up, every one said: I'm no hero, now the radio guy, he was a hero, or the medic, he was a hero.

Some of these guys were at Iwo Jima, Tet, Pork Chop Hill, but to a man and woman, every one gave credit to somebody else. Unanamously, they gave credit to those who didnt come home as the heros. It was very moving.

So go ahead, salute away.

John (in Iraq; See you in March):wave

[jamesdunn]

Great post John. Especially so because you're currently serving and in a war zone, no less. I hope you come home safe and wish you well.

[Rpbump]

Recognizing someone who has served or is serving now can take many forms. A simple thank you, hand shake, wave, etc. I tend to think of WWII Vets as our greatest generation but make an effort to greet in some way all of our members of the Armed Forces and to thank them for there service. My brother and sister (ARMY) fondly remember USO shows in the 1950's and I vividly remember the casualties from Vietnam that were being treated at St Albans Naval Hospital in Queens, NY and later at Oakland Naval Hospial in California. My wish is that all who go in harms way come back safe knowing fullwell that some will be wounded and some will give thier last full measure. God Bless Them All. :usa :usa :usa

[Professor]

b52g said he didn't do anything special so he was embarrassed when thanked for his service. Just because he didn't see combat doesn't mean he didn't do his part. He left his home and family. He put his fate in the hands of others who decided where is service was most needed.

I am also a Viet Nam era vet. I served in the Western Pacific aboard a repair ship (USS Klondike - AR-22) as an Electronic Technician. I repaired radar and navigational equipment on Destroyers, Cruisers, Aircraft Carriers, Mine sweepers, etc. I did not see combat, but I feel good about my supporting role. The cooks, carpenters, engineers, divers, welders, bos'ns mates, and everybody else did their part and all deserve that recognition.

We also deserve credit for supporting the bar economy in Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and even San Diego. :buds :rofl

[jamesdunn]

I have already posted twice on this thread. I'll make this the third Naval post in a row. HM2, USN, Viet Nam Era. Everyone who serves or has served is always eligible for combat. All servicemen/women sign up knowing that fact.

[Motor31]

In addition to saying thanks, a hand shake or salute, there is another motorcycle oriented way of saying thanks and that's the Patriot Guard. They not only provide escort and honors at funerals but also welcome homes and send offs. Cagers are welcome too. All you need is a desire to support the troops and stand with them.

I had the privilege to participate in several PGR missions in Colorado Springs in August / September when about 4,900 troops rotated home from Iraq. The impact of the PGR saying thanks and shaking hands was tremendous not only for the troops we welcomed back but also on the many Vets who were a part of the PGR. The PGR does a great job of trying to make sure no Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine or Coastie comes home or to their rest alone and unappreciated for their sacrifice.

[GrafikFeat]

I have already posted twice on this thread. I'll make this the third Naval post in a row.
HM2, USN Viet Nam Era.
Everyone who serves or has served is always eligible for combat.
All servicemen/women sign up knowing that fact.

That is so very true.
My task force, of which centered around the Kitty hawk, was over in Subic Bay in the Philippines when the hostages were taken.
They sealed the base and sent us to sit off the coast of Iran.
At the last minute my ship was directed to escort a damaged frigate back to the states.
At first we were relieved that we'd be going home after a six month deployment...
But you could really sense the over all mood of the crew that we felt as if we were letting the remainder of the carrier group down.
As noted... You go where they send you and you perform the task(s) assigned.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jim_popper/4001639212/" title="USS Chicago, CG-11 by GrafikFeat, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2599/4001639212_7831eaafbf_m.jpg" width="240" height="156" alt="USS Chicago, CG-11" /></a>

But for the first time in my young twenty two years I didn't want to go home.

[gfspencer]

A smile, a wave, a thumbs up - all work for me.
I'm retired Army (30 years). I personally think a thumbs up or a wave is a very nice gesture. If you see someone in uniform, shake his/her hand and say thanks.

[mslscott]

First I would like to thank all Vets for their and their families sacrifices for this great country. We have all seen vehicles with a bumper sticker that reads " My son or daughter is in the military" or "I'm a proud Vet from one of the wars" Now my question is, when I pass a vehicle that someone from the Armed Services is riding in would it be proper as someone who never served to salute as a thank you/ job well done? Or is there a way I can show my appreciation another way? Thanks. Kevin

On occasion, I pass National Guard convoys heading north for their annual training at Camp Grayling in Michigan. I always raise my hand high in the air and give a thumbs up. In return, I get waiving hands, honking horns, or flashing headlights, acknowledging my appreciation. I'm in my last year in the Navy Reserve and still marvel that fine young people continue to step forward, volunteering to take the mantle to defend our freedoms today.

[Statdawg]

Any gesture of kindness would do in this era be it a handshake to volunteer work.

What concerns me is there was a time when military men and women came home, they put their uniform in mothballs and return to civilian life with no fanfare. My father flew in WW2 was one of them, my neighbor Chet hitch hiked to work for two years before he was able to buy a car and he never felt he needed a handshake or an entitlement because he survived Normandy and Bastone nor felt his two Silver Stars needed a shadow box. One day I was visiting a cemetery and saw a Vet marker on a local farmers wife grave because she was a nurse in the Pacific.All I remember was she was a church lady and had a great laugh that has passed on, no yellow ribbons, bumper stickers or flags just people that served and expected nothing.

Before the grind I served my country, no big deal I am grateful to serve, the GI Bill went towards another degree and the points for being a Vet to get the job that provided an early retirement and a bonus of additional service time for retirement that will equal more over a lifetime than when I was sweating earning military pay is my self earned thank you. That's my handshake, my thanks and I need no other. I also believe the VA is for those that have service related claims and retirees, being a short term Vet I don't consider its right to drag my bones up there wasting time and services and needing a translator to understand my assigned physician.

Some will remember the hot book of the 1970s, "I'm OK -- You're OK" by Thomas Harris. Harris was part of the self-esteem movement of the time. Thirty years later, self-esteem seems to have morphed into entitlement. With all the flag waving I miss the Vets that put their decorated lives in mothballs, said nothing and went to work without a need for anything.

How about a wave or a thank you for a police officer, teacher, fireman, emergency worker, Eagel Scout, someone that pays their taxes and goes to work everyday ? I could see a song and dance for someone forced to serve in the military but volunteer please give me a break.................ok I will give in, the GI Bill is not what it was.......hey thank you for protecting me from the Saudis. :bow

God Bless America..........thank a Vet...........if you can read this thank a teacher.

Again.....Any gesture of kindness would do in this era be it a handshake to volunteer work.

[GrafikFeat]

...What concerns me is there was a time when military men and women came home, they put their uniform in mothballs and return to civilian life with no fanfare. My father flew in WW2 was one of them, my neighbor Chet hitch hiked to work for two years before he was able to buy a car and he never felt he needed a handshake or an entitlement because he survived Normandy and Bastone nor felt his two Silver Stars needed a shadow box...

My Dad was the same way... It was something above personal. A time we'll never know.
First hand accounts of this era are quickly disappearing.

This also reminded me of Tom Brokaw's Book: The Greatest Generation.

Please, indulge my posting of a review/synopsis of the book.
~ Jim
--
"In the spring of 1984, I went to the northwest of France, to Normandy, to prepare an NBC documentary on the fortieth anniversary of D-Day, the massive and daring Allied invasion of Europe that marked the beginning of the end of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. There, I underwent a life-changing experience. As I walked the beaches with the American veterans who had returned for this anniversary, men in their sixties and seventies, and listened to their stories, I was deeply moved and profoundly grateful for all they had done. Ten years later, I returned to Normandy for the fiftieth anniversary of the invasion, and by then I had come to understand what this generation of Americans meant to history. It is, I believe, the greatest generation any society has ever produced."

In this superb book, Tom Brokaw goes out into America, to tell through the stories of individual men and women the story of a generation, America's citizen heroes and heroines who came of age during the Great Depression and the Second World War and went on to build modern America. This generation was united not only by a common purpose, but also by common values--duty, honor, economy, courage, service, love of family and country, and, above all, responsibility for oneself. In this book, you will meet people whose everyday lives reveal how a generation persevered through war, and were trained by it, and then went on to create interesting and useful lives and the America we have today.

"At a time in their lives when their days and nights should have been filled with innocent adventure, love, and the lessons of the workaday world, they were fighting in the most primitive conditions possible across the bloodied landscape of France, Belgium, Italy, Austria, and the coral islands of the Pacific. They answered the call to save the world from the two most powerful and ruthless military machines ever assembled, instruments of conquest in the hands of fascist maniacs. They faced great odds and a late start, but they did not protest. They succeeded on every front. They won the war; they saved the world. They came home to joyous and short-lived celebrations and immediately began the task of rebuilding their lives and the world they wanted. They married in record numbers and gave birth to another distinctive generation, the Baby Boomers. A grateful nation made it possible for more of them to attend college than any society had ever educated, anywhere. They gave the world new science, literature, art, industry, and economic strength unparalleled in the long curve of history. As they now reach the twilight of their adventurous and productive lives, they remain, for the most part, exceptionally modest. They have so many stories to tell, stories that in many cases they have never told before, because in a deep sense they didn't think that what they were doing was that special, because everyone else was doing it too.

"This book, I hope, will in some small way pay tribute to those men and women who have given us the lives we have today--an American family portrait album of the greatest generation."

In this book you'll meet people like Charles Van Gorder, who set up during D-Day a MASH-like medical facility in the middle of the fighting, and then came home to create a clinic and hospital in his hometown. You'll hear George Bush talk about how, as a Navy Air Corps combat pilot, one of his assignments was to read the mail of the enlisted men under him, to be sure no sensitive military information would be compromised. And so, Bush says, "I learned about life." You'll meet Trudy Elion, winner of the Nobel Prize in medicine, one of the many women in this book who found fulfilling careers in the changed society as a result of the war. You'll meet Martha Putney, one of the first black women to serve in the newly formed WACs. And you'll meet the members of the Romeo Club (Retired Old Men Eating Out), friends for life.

Through these and other stories in The Greatest Generation, you'll relive with ordinary men and women, military heroes, famous people of great achievement, and community leaders how these extraordinary times forged the values and provided the training that made a people and a nation great.

[r11rs94]

That is so very true.
My task force, of which centered around the Kitty hawk, was over in Subic Bay in the Philippines when the hostages were taken.
They sealed the base and sent us to sit off the coast of Iran.
At the last minute my ship was directed to escort a damaged frigate back to the states.
At first we were relieved that we'd be going home after a six month deployment...
But you could really sense the over all mood of the crew that we felt as if we were letting the remainder of the carrier group down.
As noted... You go where they send you and you perform the task(s) assigned.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jim_popper/4001639212/" title="USS Chicago, CG-11 by GrafikFeat, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2599/4001639212_7831eaafbf_m.jpg" width="240" height="156" alt="USS Chicago, CG-11" /></a>

But for the first time in my young twenty two years I didn't want to go home.
Nice looking ship. I served on this one, 73 - 76, USS Columbus CG-12

[PHMarvin]

Thanks to everyone with their thoughts. I like the thumbs up and for me I will say "Thank you " to any Vet. I don't care if you served during peace time or war time, you serve our country you should be thanked. Kevin

Hi, Kevin,
You're welcome.
Regards,
Phil Marvin
ex-QM2(SS) USS Nathan Hale SSB(N)623(G)

[97077]

Again, Thank you to all our Vets, Men and Women who have served and are now serving this great country. Without you I wonder were we would be now. Remember Veterans Day is Nov. 11th. Thank you to all who contributed to this post, I learned a lot. Kevin

[GrafikFeat]

Nice looking ship. I served on ... USS Columbus CG-12...

I was on board the USS Chicago CG-11...
There were three Sister ships.
USS Albany CG-10, USS Chicago CG-11 and of course USS Columbus CG-12.

I found this on Wikipedia. Funny thing, I'm in this shot circa 1979...
I'm in the forward most group.
I was always on that station w/ sound powered phones on.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/USS_Chicago.jpg/800px-USS_Chicago.jpg

[HexST]

Another great thread on a forum of if not like minded folks at least like interested. Acknowledging folks who served is like showing respect for elders and persons of the cloth make it feel good for you and don't tread on their special honors. I'm a third generation military server, Father retired USN WW2 Korea early Southeast Asia war games vet, GF retired Army Chased Villa Philippine Insurection WW1 vet, GGF retired U.S. Army war between the states vet. I'm Viet ERA vet got out after 10 years to become an FAA govt. mule. I wouldn't Salute but that doesn't make it wrong just not right for me.Like I still take off my cover and put it over my heart during the Star Spangled Banner even though I'm allowed to Salute now.