Published: Friday, February 17, 2012
Service members
Thanking vets just isn't enough
I have another take on the citizen disappointed that a service member dismissed his "thanks for your service" message. (Letter, "Perhaps approach was off-putting.") Maybe the Marine or sailor had just gotten back from their fourth tour in Afghanistan or the Persian Gulf. Maybe she was thinking about being sent back again in our endless occupation of the Middle East.
Maybe she's thinking about her future, about what her retirement might look like once the butcher bill is paid for these many occupations and the social safety net is left in tatters. Maybe she'd like more than a pat on the head in a supermarket if she comes back home half out of her mind due to multiple deployments in hostile areas.
The standard tour in Vietnam was 13 months. Our current vets are sent back multiple times. Maybe our servicewoman hopes that someone in the citizenry would try to make sure that wars are fought not for resources but for the survival of our country. Maybe she hoped someone would stand up for service members rather than just pat them on the head and give them an "atta girl."
Cameron Johnson
USN, 1971-1975
Mukilteo
Maybe she's thinking about her future, about what her retirement might look like once the butcher bill is paid for these many occupations and the social safety net is left in tatters. Maybe she'd like more than a pat on the head in a supermarket if she comes back home half out of her mind due to multiple deployments in hostile areas.
The standard tour in Vietnam was 13 months. Our current vets are sent back multiple times. Maybe our servicewoman hopes that someone in the citizenry would try to make sure that wars are fought not for resources but for the survival of our country. Maybe she hoped someone would stand up for service members rather than just pat them on the head and give them an "atta girl."
Cameron Johnson
USN, 1971-1975
Mukilteo
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