Thank you for letting me serve.

[Obamanaut]

Every now and again there are threads thanking me, a veteran, for my service. While it is true that I appreciate the feeling behind this I do not think that I deserve thanks. Instead, it is I who should be thanking the collective YOU for allowing me to serve.

I graduated from high school in 1960 without any thought of going to college. We were a poor family - my stepfather and I would do odd jobs on weekends to supplement the family income - and certainly could not afford it. I had not taken the required courses to prepare for college because I knew I would never go, so scholarships were out of the question. Four days after graduation I entered basic training.

Over the next 28 years I was given the opportunity to travel to a multitude of places. I married, and we had two children. My family was never hungry, we always lived in nice housing, and they even got to see different parts of the United States that would have otherwise been out of our reach. I was allowed to work on extremely costly aircraft, I flew into the eye of several typhoons, earned a college degree, and paid for a house where we are currently living in retirement. I was never shot at by any “enemy, foreign or domestic”, and I never had to shoot at anyone.

You continue to provide for my needs in the form of affordable health insurance, available military pharmacy, and a comfortable pension. For all of these things, I thank YOU. I thank you for the opportunity you provided a young man who grew up under the poverty line to escape. I also thank all the servicemen and women who served before me and continue to serve who have been and remain in harm’s way. I was never in peril, but I will be eternally grateful that so many were, and are, willing to expose themselves thus. My wish is that all who are now involved in this misbegotten, ill-conceived debacle will return to their loved ones safely.

Thank you all.

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. *hugs*

[Obamanaut]

2. thanks, GPV. nt

[TomInTib]

3. I would have gladly allowed you to serve for me

I, too, was USN - the wrong one.

Pilot, PBR. '69-72. Qua Viet, Quang Tri.

I always wondered how guys could hang in for a career.

The military absolutely could not function without guys like you.

Enjoy your retirement.

Tom

[annabanana]

4. I wish for all our Service men and women the life you've

described. It is surely tax money better spent than that lavished on Halliburton.

[Redneck Socialist]

5. You're welcome

Wow. Great post.

[jarab]

6. You're welcome, and .... Thanks!

...O...

[Brigid]

7. Wow.

Just wow. :patriot:

[Booster]

8. Now, that made me cry. I don't think I've ever read or heard

anyone say "thank you for letting me serve" - it's very refreshing and I for one am saying "you're very welcome" and thank you for representing what true Americans are all about. I love this post.

[SeattleGirl]

9. What a thoughtful post, usnret88

And very unusual, in that I have never heard any service person say "Thank you for letting me serve." I'm sure there are others who feel the way you do, who see and are thankful for the opportunities your service in the military provided you, and your family.

You deserve to have your needs net; you enlisted not knowing if you would at some point be in harm's way, but you enlisted anyway. So, in turn, I thank YOU.

:patriot:

[mike_c]

10. K&R, best post of the day, IMO....

:patriot:

[pookieblue]

11. Thank You..

and you are welcome

[DeepModem Mom]

12. Thank you for this post -- K&R.

[Rainscents]

13. Hug ;-)

:hug:

[Jazz2006]

14. Very touching and thoughtful. K&R.

Respect to you, usnret88, and all who serve and have served.

[UrbScotty]

15. You're welcome.

:patriot:

[Jacobin]

16. No, thank you anyway

Because you walked the walk and served to protect us. I'm grateful you were not directly in harm's way, but you easily could have been at any time.

Thank you.

[renate]

20. ditto that

Plenty of good people work hard at important jobs without having to agree to risk their lives if they're called upon to do so.
That part of your contract earns you extra credit. :)

Thank you.

:patriot:

[Obamanaut]

17. Thank you to all who responded - kind words all.

I served on several aircraft carriers in the air wing component - USS America, USS Eisenhower, USS John F. Kennedy, USS Midway, USS Independence. At one time I was in an airborne early warning squadron that had detachments to DaNang and ChuLai, RVN ('68 - '71). The primary mission was typhoon tracking, but we also provided long range radar coverage for the fleet. Flying into the eye of a typhoon is not only exciting, but amazingly beautiful if you do it in the early morning - pop out of the eye into the calm above the storm and see all the turmoil beneath you.

All in all, I think I've had a very good life, and now I'm content.

[myrna minx]

18. Your post made me tear up.

:hug: Thank you.

[Obamanaut]

19. I've done that several times since joining DU. A good group. nt