“Thank you for your service.”

We should really be able to use a bit of profanity in the veteran's forum, so I could type like I talk...




Over the years I have heard a lot of thank you's...the ones I always thought of as sincere have been accompanied by a handshake, beers, or cups o joe.

Thank me if you must, or if your job requires it of you, but this dysfunctional vet doesn't care one way or another...I did what I did and do what I do because I freaking like it.

@xtp308 and @Have gun-will travel, both nailed it...Thank my wife...she stuck it out, more times than I can count, alone and unafraid, playing the single parent, managing the house, the bills, working full time, a real life "Household 6" getting it done. We watched a lot of marriages crumble along the way, but somehow we made it, and I don't know how because I was gone more than I was home for the 18 married years of the 21 I was in uniform, and as a retiree and DAC since 05, she still puts up with me and she doesn't even drink!!
 
I always say thank you even though I almost never say it myself to anyone else. I always think "well uncle sam paided me to do something I would have done for free so it I don't need any affermation". I figure if you served you are a part of a brotherhood and if you know you know. If you are going to thank someone thank the wives and kids. If it makes someone feel good to say it have at it.
 
Last edited:
Chuckman said:
I do wear shirts and caps and whatnot. I am proud of what I did. I did some hard stuff, and fun stuff, and unique stuff. But I could not care less if anyone says anything about it.

@Chdamn , we were doing multinational diving operations; us, the Aussies, and South Korean ROK (one a NCO, the other an officer), off the north coast of Australia near Darwin. Regular SCUBA, not closed-circuit, a simple underwater nav course from a boat to the shore and back, about 2 miles total. You could see the bubbles from the boat, a set of bubbles for each diver. Aussies go first, about 15 minutes later we go, ROKs 15 minutes behind us; repeat for the way back. We get back to the boat, we're watching the ROKs swim back. Two sets of bubbles. Then, one set. It stays that way for almost 5 minutes. They get on the boat, the officer is blue and practically unconscious. The NCO smacks him pretty hard, the officer arrouses, the NCP smacks him again. The officer looks ashamed, guys on the boat help him take off his stuff.

We ask the NCO what happened. In broken English he said on the way back the officer ran out of air, pointed to surface. The NCO shook his head, pointed to the boat. Officer shook his head, pointed to the surface. NCO shook his head, pointed to the boat. The NCO practically dragged him the last few hundred yards on what amounted to the officer holding his breath. The NCO said he did not smack him to wake him up, he smacked him for breathing too fast and using up all his air and being weak and undisciplined.
Click to expand...
Lmao. Yep that sounds about right. Like I said, tough bastards. They take honor very very seriously and it has a little different definition than what we’re used to.
 
Chdamn said:
Lmao. Yep that sounds about right. Like I said, tough bastards. They take honor very very seriously and it has a little different definition than what we’re used to.
Click to expand...

That incident made all of our jaws drop lol. We couldn't believe he did that. My partner was a corporal, he looked at me, he asked "you think I could get away with that with Gunny or Lt. Cruman?" I was like, "I wouldn't advise it."
 
The ROKs are spider monkeys, too. They swam well, but were absolute beasts on their mountain courses.
I’ve watched them smack each other around for sure; but Copenhagen dropped one of them. He offered me a smoke, I gave him a dip. Just doing my part, you know. They carried him off the mountain…

Yes, that’s why the “M” in Marine is always capitalized. We’re special people.
 
Last edited:
xtp308 said:
The ROKs are spider monkeys, too. They swam well, but were absolute beasts on their mountain courses.
I’ve watched them smack each other around for sure; but Copenhagen dropped one of them. He offered me a smoke, I gave him a dip. Just doing my part, you know. They carried him off the mountain…
Click to expand...
No doubt. And you should see one scale a tree to hang a jungle ant.

I was about to toss a rope he was like no. It was like a Jerry clower story. Bippity boppity up the tree he went with the antennae in his mouth.
 
Long_Hunter said:
We should really be able to use a bit of profanity in the veteran's forum, so I could type like I talk...




Over the years I have heard a lot of thank you's...the ones I always thought of as sincere have been accompanied by a handshake, beers, or cups o joe.

Thank me if you must, or if your job requires it of you, but this dysfunctional vet doesn't care one way or another...I did what I did and do what I do because I freaking like it.

@xtp308 and @Have gun-will travel, both nailed it...Thank my wife...she stuck it out, more times than I can count, alone and unafraid, playing the single parent, managing the house, the bills, working full time, a real life "Household 6" getting it done. We watched a lot of marriages crumble along the way, but somehow we made it, and I don't know how because I was gone more than I was home for the 18 married years of the 21 I was in uniform, and as a retiree and DAC since 05, she still puts up with me and she doesn't even drink!!
Click to expand...
My wife stuck it out 14 years active and June 29 will be 38 years total
 
Chuckman said:
I don't care about why people joined, just that they did. If getting out of the hood or getting money for college is going to make you a better person and a better American, that's fine by me.
Click to expand...

In that case, you’re welcome for my service

🤣
 
I don't mind someone saying "Thank You" even if it's just perfunctory. I don't know when that started, but I remember the first time it happened to me.

My wife and I went to see "Full Metal Jacket" in 1987 when it came out. The first half about boot camp at Parris Island with Lee Ermy was very good. It was just like what I experienced both times I went through PI. Then came the Vietnam part. After watching for a little bit I was having some flashbacks so I went out to the lobby to smoke a cigarette. (Back then you could still smoke in the theater lobby). I was wearing my old issued leather flight jacket with the fur collar and an old worn American flag on the left shoulder and a leather name patch with the USMC emblem on the left breast. I must have looked pretty shaken up. A woman - somewhat older than me - came out of the auditorium and saw me. She walked over and asked if I had served in Vietnam. When I replied 'Yes" she said "Thank you" and hugged me. THAT destroyed me. I was choked up through the rest of the movie. There were a number of inaccuracies in the movie but I just chalk that up to "Hollyweird". Also, I couldn't figure out how they had gotten permission to film at Parris Island for a movie. Later, in 1990, when they were filming "What About Bob?" at our place in Virginia I met the Unit Production manager who was also the UPM for "Full Metal Jacket" and asked him about that filming. He laughed and said it was all filmed at Pinewood Studios in ENGLAND! They had just gotten photos from the Marine Corps and reproduced it at the film studio and back lot. Interesting watching them do the movie magic at our place too.

This whole thread could get interesting if it was moved to the basement and the vets could really tell their stories. You do know the difference between a Fairy Tale and a Sea Story? A Fairy Tale starts out "...Once Upon A Time." A Sea story starts out ...."now this is no S**t."
 
SSgt75 said:
I don't mind someone saying "Thank You" even if it's just perfunctory. I don't know when that started, but I remember the first time it happened to me.

My wife and I went to see "Full Metal Jacket" in 1987 when it came out. The first half about boot camp at Parris Island with Lee Ermy was very good. It was just like what I experienced both times I went through PI. Then came the Vietnam part. After watching for a little bit I was having some flashbacks so I went out to the lobby to smoke a cigarette. (Back then you could still smoke in the theater lobby). I was wearing my old issued leather flight jacket with the fur collar and an old worn American flag on the left shoulder and a leather name patch with the USMC emblem on the left breast. I must have looked pretty shaken up. A woman - somewhat older than me - came out of the auditorium and saw me. She walked over and asked if I had served in Vietnam. When I replied 'Yes" she said "Thank you" and hugged me. THAT destroyed me. I was choked up through the rest of the movie. There were a number of inaccuracies in the movie but I just chalk that up to "Hollyweird". Also, I couldn't figure out how they had gotten permission to film at Parris Island for a movie. Later, in 1990, when they were filming "What About Bob?" at our place in Virginia I met the Unit Production manager who was also the UPM for "Full Metal Jacket" and asked him about that filming. He laughed and said it was all filmed at Pinewood Studios in ENGLAND! They had just gotten photos from the Marine Corps and reproduced it at the film studio and back lot. Interesting watching them do the movie magic at our place too.

This whole thread could get interesting if it was moved to the basement and the vets could really tell their stories. You do know the difference between a Fairy Tale and a Sea Story? A Fairy Tale starts out "...Once Upon A Time." A Sea story starts out ...."now this is no S**t."
Click to expand...
you just have to make sure the statute of limitations has passed before telling some stories
 
My dad is a Viet Nam vet. I never served myself but I had a (small and limited) window into what it meant to serve as I spent a lot of my early life on military bases while my father served. Lots of people don’t even have that. I think thanking vets for their service became something that people like myself who didn’t serve could do to express gratitude for something that we’re grateful for but can’t really understand because we were never there.
I know it’s awkward for some people as they didn’t do it for a pat on the back but at least on this end the gratitude and sentiment it expresses is sincere.
 
I have a couple of good friends who are vets. Usually on special occasions like Veterans Day I will personally thank them for their sacrifice. It's my opinion that a 20 year career in the military is a significant sacrifice.

Other than that I typically don't ever thank people for their service. I meet veterans constantly because of proximity to the world's largest navy base and my job. I would never stop shaking hands if I did that. In an area like where I live, being a vet doesn't make you special, it makes you just like thousands of other people around.
I bought tickets to Universal Studios through MWR because of my DOD job. On my way through the gate the ticket checker insisted on thanking me for my service. Tone it down Broski, I'm a civilian employee.
Thanks from random people on the street is just weird. My mother-in-law will thank veterans for their service a lot, particularly WWII, Korea and Vietnam vets. Not that you see too many of those anymore. I promise never to thank any of you for your service.

Chdamn said:
Don’t make me poop in your washing machine.
Click to expand...

That's a weirdly specific threat.
 
SSgt75 said:
I don't mind someone saying "Thank You" even if it's just perfunctory. I don't know when that started, but I remember the first time it happened to me.

My wife and I went to see "Full Metal Jacket" in 1987 when it came out. The first half about boot camp at Parris Island with Lee Ermy was very good. It was just like what I experienced both times I went through PI. Then came the Vietnam part. After watching for a little bit I was having some flashbacks so I went out to the lobby to smoke a cigarette. (Back then you could still smoke in the theater lobby). I was wearing my old issued leather flight jacket with the fur collar and an old worn American flag on the left shoulder and a leather name patch with the USMC emblem on the left breast. I must have looked pretty shaken up. A woman - somewhat older than me - came out of the auditorium and saw me. She walked over and asked if I had served in Vietnam. When I replied 'Yes" she said "Thank you" and hugged me. THAT destroyed me. I was choked up through the rest of the movie. There were a number of inaccuracies in the movie but I just chalk that up to "Hollyweird". Also, I couldn't figure out how they had gotten permission to film at Parris Island for a movie. Later, in 1990, when they were filming "What About Bob?" at our place in Virginia I met the Unit Production manager who was also the UPM for "Full Metal Jacket" and asked him about that filming. He laughed and said it was all filmed at Pinewood Studios in ENGLAND! They had just gotten photos from the Marine Corps and reproduced it at the film studio and back lot. Interesting watching them do the movie magic at our place too.

This whole thread could get interesting if it was moved to the basement and the vets could really tell their stories. You do know the difference between a Fairy Tale and a Sea Story? A Fairy Tale starts out "...Once Upon A Time." A Sea story starts out ...."now this is no S**t."
Click to expand...

That was crazy, wasn't it?? The boot camp scenes were filmed at a RAF base; everything else was filmed around England and Wales, some sets were in Pinewood Studios. How they made England look like Vietnam was amazing.
 
@Chdamn I haven't read this whole thread. I just wanted to give a fun fact about Lowe's and their Military Veteran Promotions.

I hate to hear thank you for your service. And, it's absolutely forced on the employees at Lowe's.

One of the Lowe's executives is a Marine Corps vet from Desert Storm. He was hired a couple of years ago, and he's the one that solidified the veteran discount, the veteran parking spaces, and the "thank you for your service" screen pop up. He also sits on boards and donated big money to veteran organizations.

I really appreciate this guy for caring enough to institute the pro veteran changes. I think it's pretty cool. I wish there was a veteran on the executive team at every big box store.

Screenshot_20230420_122959_DuckDuckGo.jpg
 
Have gun-will travel said:
risking life and limb so we can be free.
Click to expand...

Will someone explain this to me?

When I hear that service members are doing such and such so we can be free, it reminds me of when people say police officers are keeping us safe.

I consider our government to be a bigger threat to our freedom than another country.

Is it because the military that deters other nations from attacking us is all volunteer, therefore the thanks?
 
kcult said:
Will someone explain this to me?

When I hear that service members are doing such and such so we can be free, it reminds me of when people say police officers are keeping us safe.

I consider our government to be a bigger threat to our freedom than another country.

Is it because the military that deters other nations from attacking us is all volunteer, therefore the thanks?
Click to expand...
I could care less if you want to thank me or not HOWEVER I will not be scorned like the Vietnam vets were. do you think the country would still exist without the military? would we be speaking German now? would China/Russia annex the USA without the threat of the military? As for me I will give respect to a police officer UNTIL they show its not warranted.
 
Last edited:
vaskeet said:
I could care less if you want to thank me or not HOWEVER I will not be scorned like the Vietnam vets were. do you think the country would still exist without the military? would we be speaking German now? would China/Russia annex the USA without the threat of the military? As for me I will give respect to a police officer UNTIL they show its not warranted.
Click to expand...

When you say "you," are you speaking generally, or is it directed at me?
 
kcult said:
When you say "you," are you speaking generally, or is it directed at me?
Click to expand...
trying to answer your question and ask you a few as I am interested in your answers. The only people who I want RESPECT from are the men and women I served with and i hope I earned that respect
 
Last edited:
Cataphract said:
My dad is a Viet Nam vet. I never served myself but I had a (small and limited) window into what it meant to serve as I spent a lot of my early life on military bases while my father served. Lots of people don’t even have that. I think thanking vets for their service became something that people like myself who didn’t serve could do to express gratitude for something that we’re grateful for but can’t really understand because we were never there.
I know it’s awkward for some people as they didn’t do it for a pat on the back but at least on this end the gratitude and sentiment it expresses is sincere.
Click to expand...
I didn't grow up on a base, but most of my family was military and i grew up very structured, so i'm in your neighborhood on this. I have no idea when the "thank you for your service" thing started, but it never felt right to me. Not that i didn't mean it, but because just about everybody i knew had a bad experience and would have rather left it all behind and not mention it.
Now that I'm old and i have seen all kinds of people go in and come out of the military, I really don't say it much at all because i find everybody's motivations were different, and i may not be thankful of all of them. Some people went in purely out of desire to get the benefits afterwards, and based on how useless, dishonest, and crappy they are now, i don't imagine they really did much in the way of service to be thankful for. Others are hard working, well mannered, and everything you'd think of when somebody mentions "soldier". I'm pretty thankful for them, but those seem to be the ones who least feel a need to hear the phrase.
As I've said in other threads, the one thing I do try to say is "welcome home" to vietnam vets because many have still never heard it and got such a bad transition after the war.
 
kcult said:
Will someone explain this to me?

When I hear that service members are doing such and such so we can be free, it reminds me of when people say police officers are keeping us safe.

I consider our government to be a bigger threat to our freedom than another country.

Is it because the military that deters other nations from attacking us is all volunteer, therefore the thanks?
Click to expand...
Pretty easy to explain. I don’t and never did desire to pick up arms and go to war to defend the country we have against all threats foreign and domestic. I never wanted a job where I was basically saying “whatever the situation is, send me in and if it costs me my life then I’ll die for the ideals of this country”. The people who served? Yeah, they did that.
Remember that the veterans you’re talking about aren’t the ones making the decisions about when and where they fight, they and their families are just the ones paying the price.
You can disagree with the way the government runs things and that’s fine, there’s a reason we don’t thank politicians - but being grateful to vets is an entirely different thing.
 
Last edited:
kcult said:
Will someone explain this to me?

When I hear that service members are doing such and such so we can be free, it reminds me of when people say police officers are keeping us safe.

I consider our government to be a bigger threat to our freedom than another country.

Is it because the military that deters other nations from attacking us is all volunteer, therefore the thanks?
Click to expand...

A few thoughts. More than one thing can be true. Is our government a threat to our freedom? Sure. Maybe. It's also been that way for > 200 years. But are other countries a threat? Sure.

I don't want this thread to turn into a discussion of military policy and philosophy, but forward deployment and deterrence is a big part of that "keeping us safe". Keeping us "free"? Maybe. Does the fact it's an all-volunteer force make a difference? It does. Everyone chooses to do it. Everyone has different motivators, different reasons, but no one forced anyone to join.
 
DrScaryGuy said:
I didn't grow up on a base, but most of my family was military and i grew up very structured, so i'm in your neighborhood on this. I have no idea when the "thank you for your service" thing started, but it never felt right to me. Not that i didn't mean it, but because just about everybody i knew had a bad experience and would have rather left it all behind and not mention it.
Now that I'm old and i have seen all kinds of people go in and come out of the military, I really don't say it much at all because i find everybody's motivations were different, and i may not be thankful of all of them. Some people went in purely out of desire to get the benefits afterwards, and based on how useless, dishonest, and crappy they are now, i don't imagine they really did much in the way of service to be thankful for. Others are hard working, well mannered, and everything you'd think of when somebody mentions "soldier". I'm pretty thankful for them, but those seem to be the ones who least feel a need to hear the phrase.
As I've said in other threads, the one thing I do try to say is "welcome home" to vietnam vets because many have still never heard it and got such a bad transition after the war.
Click to expand...
I don’t think we have to robotically say something every time we interact with a vet. I know I don’t. There are certainly circumstances that lend themselves to making such statements, and those that don’t.
If we wanted to can the verbal “thanks” altogether and just take better care of our returning vets by doing things like fixing the VA, that might be more helpful than just blurting out something on cue.
 
A couple other perspectives.

One, I don't feel like I am 'owed' anything. I don't feel like I am 'better' than anyone who has not served. It is frustrating though when people who did not spend time in the military wants to be a subject matter expert because their son or father or cousin was in the military, or because of something they read or saw on social media. I am reminded of the quote "a man with experience trumps the man with an opinion."

Two, it's a weird brotherhood, and hard to explain. Doesn't matter if you are/were in the whatever branch, not what job you actually did, we all have some level of commonality and shared experience. We talk smack to one another but at the end of the day there is a brotherhood. Also true with us 'military brats' and spouses. Commonality and shared experiences.

Three, I don't get mad if someone 'thanks me for my service.' I understand why people want to say it, and I try to be sympathetic to that. It does make me feel weird. Especially when others did so much more and had it so much worse and had real sacrifice.
 
kcult said:
Will someone explain this to me?

When I hear that service members are doing such and such so we can be free, it reminds me of when people say police officers are keeping us safe.

I consider our government to be a bigger threat to our freedom than another country.

Is it because the military that deters other nations from attacking us is all volunteer, therefore the thanks?
Click to expand...
77F571E4-DB2C-45B3-B70E-02FC20980CC1.png
 
1075tech said:
I "served" in that I enlisted, went to basic and AIT, did my one weekend a month and two weeks a year while I went to college. Then I went active duty for a while and got to travel Europe.

I got to experience things that I would have never had the opportunity to do otherwise.

Thank me? No. It was a job. Yeah, I "worked" 12 hours a day, 6 days a week for a couple of years. But, my life wasn't on the line. No one was trying to kill me. No one was shooting at me.

I didn't feel it was special. Several of the kids I went to school with enlisted. Like my father, and his father, and his... and so on. Going back to the revolutionary war. It's just what we did. My 4 brothers also.

None of my kids enlisted. And I'm ok with that. My nephew graduates from Warrant Officer school in a few weeks. He could have retired this year.

I can't stand platitudes. The majority of the time they're just empty words without feeling or meaning.

You want to thank someone, thank those families who's sons, daughters, mothers and fathers didn't make it back. Thank those who didn't come back whole.
Click to expand...
Don't sell your peacetime service short. I was a cold war soldier and during my service two soldiers I was serving with died in training accidents. Dead is dead. There is no telling when that chip you laid down when you enlisted is going to be called.
 
Several years ago I went to a remote cemetery, probably a mile or more of the beaten path but accessible with a 4wd. It was overgrown with small pines and broomstraw. I started cutting the pines when a bunch of fellows that leased the land for hunting rolled up on me on 4 wheelers and asked me what I was doing. I pointed to 1 headstone under a cedar tree and told them that the guy died in WW1 and that he wasn’t forgotten. They all got off the atv’s and started pulling trees that I was cutting. They couldn’t have thanked me more.
 
kcult said:
Will someone explain this to me?

When I hear that service members are doing such and such so we can be free, it reminds me of when people say police officers are keeping us safe.

I consider our government to be a bigger threat to our freedom than another country.

Is it because the military that deters other nations from attacking us is all volunteer, therefore the thanks?
Click to expand...

Sure, I'll explain it.

Likely, your NOT hearing the "...so we can be free..." line from vets. You're hearing it from other people.

People join the military for a variety of reasons, just like they do anything else in they're lives. Some because they had no plan after high school and needed a sure job. Some for the educational benefits. Some are simply carrying on a family tradition. Some for the idealism. Some because it gives them a sense of belonging to something greater than they are by themselves.

Most for several reasons, not just one.

There are more reasons than you can shake a pointed stick at. Some misguided, too.

Without going into the details, I joined the Navy because I ran out of health and funds in my 7th semester of college and had a pregnant wife with no medical insurance. The Navy offered me a way of taking care of my family while providing me with the best opportunity to continue my education.

But my staying in for 20 was based largely on the IDEALS behind the oath I took with every enlistment/re-enlistment.

My reasons aren't @Chdamn 's reasons... nor those of any other veteran's. They're mine.


With respect to your statement about our government being a danger...I'm no fool who thinks the world is driven by rainbows and unicorn facts. Nothing is perfect, most certainly not those we've placed in power in the government. We aren't placed on this world to make perfect choices or stick our heads in the sand as things go to Hell in a hand basket. We're here to make the best choices and take the best actions that we are able under our circumstances.


I did NOT take an oath to blindly follow those in authority over me. I swore first and foremost to uphold the IDEALS embodied in our Constitution.

But you'll never hear me say "...so we can be free..." as a "reason". It's deeper than that. And more complex.


I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.
 
By the way...as to the "thank you for your service" that sends to come up any time in identified as a veteran, I simply take it in the spirit is intended as.

I'm sure for many it's not much more than "lip service". But then, so are the many times we've heard "thank you", "how are you", "bless you", "have a nice day", etc. Many times they're given simply as polite comments, even rote manerisms, without any deeper meanings.

And honestly, I'm fine with all of that. The world could do with more polite mannerisms, especially these days.

It's kind of like being saluted when mistaken for an officer. Return the salute smartly and carry on.
 
Well, I stopped by a yard sale this past Saturday. There was a vet selling stuff, a double amputee via Iraq. He had his service dog with him. I have always had a way with dogs....even full retard man killers.
This dog was highly trained but when I approached him he was trying to quietly jump out of his skin.
The guy was smiling and gave his dog free reign.
The double amputee thanked ME for my service while I was getting pure love from his friend.
Damn....
 
Chuckman said:
That was crazy, wasn't it?? The boot camp scenes were filmed at a RAF base; everything else was filmed around England and Wales, some sets were in Pinewood Studios. How they made England look like Vietnam was amazing.
Click to expand...
Part of it used a defunct steel mill somewhere in the English rust belt
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom