Veterans Day is fast approaching, and with it comes a gathering storm of American civilian “Thank you for your service” platitudes so relentless that they threaten the structural integrity of the very veteran eardrums receiving them.
For many who have donned the uniform, the phrase elicits myriad awkward responses. Some vets simply have no reply chambered and instead offer nonsensical returns like “You too,” “Thanks for your support” or “The son of man did not come to be served, but to serve,” before launching into a “Stomp the Yard” dance routine.
And while authentic sentiment and genuine gratitude no doubt have merit, “Thank you for your service” has lost its appeal to many who served in America’s 21st-century wars.
But precisely how much today’s veterans shun the phrase has remained largely unquantified — at least until now.
Thanks to a survey produced and sourced over September and October by USAA, Endeavor Analytics and YouGov, there exists concrete evidence that veterans are indeed tired of the withering barrage of thanks.
All told, half of the 1,639 veterans and military personnel surveyed said “Thank you for your service” makes them feel downright “uncomfortable or awkward.”
That number, however, climbs to nearly 70 percent when it comes to veterans between the ages of 18 and 29. Only veterans 65 and over responded that the phrase is favorably received.
#2
Working the polls Tuesday I saw a young athletic guy that could have been a vet with what I thought was a camo prosthetic. I thought about thanking him. Then I noticed that the camo was actually marijuana leaves. Marijuana was on the ballot so technically I should have made him take it off and hop around or called the Board of Elections for instructions. Instead I complimented his camo and we went about our day.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
11/10/2023 5:52 Comments ||
Top||
#3
when i was a neanderthal in the air force i always wore my uniform when i hitch-hiked. i usually got a quick ride and one i remember, south of atlanta, i got a taste of shine colored with burnt peach skin so that it looked like a good whiskey. yum.
#4
#3 when i was a neanderthal in the air force i always wore my uniform when i hitch-hiked. i usually got a quick ride and one i remember, south of atlanta, i got a taste of shine colored with burnt peach skin so that it looked like a good whiskey. yum.
I use today's current solders/sailors in a bid of petty vengeance for the way Viet Nam veterans were treated -- by buying today's solders/sailors a round, something I used to be able to do, when I went to bars.
#5
When my son trained in the U.S., he remembered "Thank you for your service" as one of the highlights.
It just doesn't happen in Germany.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
11/10/2023 12:35 Comments ||
Top||
#6
I'm going to file this with "The Star Spangled Banner is Too Hard (to sing / play / it's "divisive", etc.) The Pledge of Allegiance likewise, Patriotism is Icky."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/10/2023 13:11 Comments ||
Top||
#7
I was on active duty 70-73, then spent 21 years in the reserves. I saw no combat, and didn't do anything dangerous. I always feel uncomfortable with the "thank you for your service." I didn't do anything special.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
11/10/2023 13:31 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Ref #5: I and many others thank Oberleutant-zur See Georg-Wolfgang Feller. The last man to be awarded the prestigious Deutsches Kreuz in Gold...for saving lives.
#9
I'll be incorrigible: To all who served, thank you.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/10/2023 13:55 Comments ||
Top||
#10
I know my son has been contemplating it.
Waiting to see if he gets his E9 bump.
Or get out and do the same thing he's doing for civilian pay. (He trains people.)
Posted by: ed in texas ||
11/10/2023 15:02 Comments ||
Top||
#11
Ref #7: I didn't do anything special.
Posted by Rambler in Virginia
#12
My gratitude for stepping forward to keep us safe, no matter what a given individual did or did not do while in uniform.
Were it not for the intervention of the American Armed Forces, my mother and her family would eventually have all been murdered by the Nazis — so it’s personal for me.
It is a big machine with a lot of parts, some big, some not as big. But you need all the parts to make it work.
Thank you everyone for your part-ticipation!
#14
As a life-long civilian, it seems to me the effort to delete gratitude towards those who served is a step toward arguing we don't need a military.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/10/2023 19:20 Comments ||
Top||
#15
Remembering service is conflicted for many veterans especially the decision to leave service. People that you served with have trouble or die. Many times there is some trauma or survivor guilt associated with service. As you age, you get used to being thanked in random situations. When you are fresh out of service, it is just a reminder of your recently lost identity.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
11/10/2023 19:49 Comments ||
Top||
[NYP] A former Wall Street banker who dished out $2 million for an old coal mine in rural Wyoming has possibly hit a $37 billion mother lode after the discovery of "rare-earth elements" at the site, according to a report.
Randall Atkins, the son of infamous oil tycoon Orin Atkins, bought the sleepy Brook Mine outside of Sheridan, Wyo., sight unseen, 12 years ago.
However, recent tests conducted by government researchers revealed that the 15,800-acre mineral reserve contains what might be the largest unconventional rare-earth deposit in the country, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Rare-earth minerals — such as gallium and germanium — are vital in the production of superconductors, and are also needed to power electric vehicles and offshore wind turbines.
When Atkins’ company Ramaco Resources first purchased the mine, the 71-year-old "didn’t know the difference between rare earths and rare coins," he told the outlet.
Now, he’s working with government researchers to extract larger samples of Brook Mine for further analysis, drilling 700 feet into the ground to produce samples — deeper than it has ever drilled.
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/10/2023 9:05 Comments ||
Top||
#5
At least dig out $10-20 million worth before telling anyone. But everyone knows miners always brag about what is in the mine versus what is actually mined.
#6
Just wait until the environmental (accent on the mental) wackos show up to shut the mine down. From what I understand, mining rare earths is incredibly dirty.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
11/10/2023 18:30 Comments ||
Top||
#7
All mining is dirty. It involves digging in the dirt. Blasting rock. Smelting or chemical separation.
Unlike trying to pick up a turd by the clean end, the net result of successful mining is humanly useful stuff.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/10/2023 19:26 Comments ||
Top||
I am 94 years old and like many of you, I am exhausted by politics and saddened by what I see happening to America. I had hoped it was time for me to move to the sidelines and let younger generations continue the fight to preserve America’s founding freedoms and values. But, like so many of us, I realized that I could not let myself walk away; the stakes are just too high.
We cannot let the America we see today be what we leave to our children and grandchildren. Many of our once-great cities have devolved into lawlessness with random violent attacks on innocent people, rampant looting, and large-scale homeless encampments. There are rarely consequences for the wrongdoers because George Soros-elected prosecutors across America refuse to prosecute them.
Moreover, our southern border is unprotected, and millions of people we know nothing about pour into our nation to receive care and benefits that we cannot afford to provide to our struggling military veterans. Worse, many of the border crossers may be gang members who commit violent crimes here. Schoolchildren across America cannot read, write, or do basic math, while our educational leaders tell us that they know better than parents how to raise our children. Working men and women are struggling to provide for their families and must raid their retirement funds just to feed, clothe, and take care of their children. These are just a few of the problems America is facing after three years of bad government policies. They cannot be our legacy.
He goes on at some length about what the left has done to the country in recent years. Finally, he comes to this point:
For these reasons, I endorse Donald J. Trump as the nominee of the Republican Party and as our next President. I endorse him not only because he has the best chance of winning the general election but because he is the best person to take on and dismantle the administrative state that is strangling America.
It’s amazing how quickly things are falling apart under Biden. It’s like the country and the world are on fire.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
