Military service doesn't make me a hero.

I am one of these people that always says thank you - I genuinely appreciate everything you do and always thought you welcomed it as I rarely go to the airport so the people I see are in the supermarket, or similar. Why are people in uniform out in everyday places? I thought they wore it s they were proud.
 
I agree with the consensus here. It has happened a few times. I always respond with a "glad to do it" or "its my pleasure", but never "you're welcome", and I never thought about why.
 
USMCmech said:
Am I the only one who feels this way?

I always get a little embaresed when some civilian gushes "thank you for your service" as though I deserved the Medal of Honor for simply signing up. I am proud of my time in the Corps, and I am a better man because of it. However, I don't feel as though I did anything special. I was a helo mechanic, and my job wasn't really any different than as a civilian. My job was important and I take pride in it, but I hardly charged the enemy with a bayonet.

I've seen many references in the media about how someone needs to be revered because they went to Iraq. "He was a hero who spent a year in Iraq and won the Purple Heart." A Purple Heart means you were unlucky, not a hero (sometimes). Just because you were deployed overseas doesn't mean you saw any action, indeed half of the guys who go overseas never leave their bases.

Now, the grunts in a line unit are generally a different story. Those guys absolutely deserve all the praise and more, but they are actually the minority in today's military.

What do the rest of you (prior)military guys think?
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When I hear that from folks I'm flying with or anyone else I simply thank them back for their support. I've had my time in the sandboxes and all around the world but I don't need to be fawned over. I really do appreciate the sentiment and the nice things people say, but I'm just a guying doing a job.
 
Boy have times changed, when i joined the USAF in 1979 i was called a LOOSER and was told that i was wasting my life.now when people find out about my service they thank me.
 
Ive gotten both ends of the spectrum. I got to go home on leave for Christmas during basic training. We had to travel in Class As and me being a private only halfway through basic, I had nothing on my uniform besides my name and my marksmanship badge. After getting to NY I got on a train that would take me home and some old woman across from me was staring. It made me really uncomfortable so I did what I could to avoid eye contact but finally I had to ask "Can I help you?" She looked at me without batting an eye and asked "Why do you wanna die for Bushs oil?" I got up and moved to another car.

When I got back from my first deployment me and some of the guys went out to breakfast at some small mom and pop diner. As our things were still in storage we were still in ACUs and most of us were hung over. Then out of nowhere some little girl approached our booth. She looked to be about 6 or 7 maybe. She looked at me and said thank you and then ran back to her mom at another booth. That small gesture made it all worth it to me.

The difference between how vets are treated today and how they were treated 40 years ago is like night and day. In my honest opinion I think there might be a little bit of collective guilt amongst Americans for how Vietnam vets were treated when they came home so people want to slather on the appreciation as a kind of penance for previous wrong doings.
 
I agree that it can be personally awkward, but having started in the Vietnam era I appreciate the general change in attitude toward vets. So, I just say, "It was my honor an privilege." At any given time less than 1% of the population is in uniform. Even if you multiply that by ten to account for immediate family, that is still a small percentage of the population that has skin in the game. Appreciation for vets, as a group, seems appropriate. So, although I do find it awkward, I don't want to discourage the sentiment.
 
Firebird2XC said:
My team leader and I were traveling through DFW back in '05 on our way back to Iraq. We stopped at the Chili's in B terminal for dinner. When we asked for the check, we were told that our meals had been paid for anonymously, and that we were to be thanked for our service.

That was a nice. That said, sometimes I feel a little odd when my background comes up and somebody feels the need to say the key phrase. It's not really so much a big deal, though. It's something I did, and personally, I think that when people in American *stop* saying that, we're all in a lot of trouble. I admit I hesitate to bring up my service now sometimes.. but still. No reason to worry too much about it.
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When I got out of boot camp they put me on "recruiter's assistance" (This was pre-9/11 so recruitment was tough) which is a fancy way of saying they provide incentive for you to convince your buddies to join the Corps. Anyways, I was headed to work the first day in my dress Charlies (blue pants, khaki longsleeve, completely devoid of any decoration except a lone expert rifle badge as I was a private), I stopped at the local diner for nostalgia purposes and ate breakfast. Asked for the check when I was done and was told it was paid for tip and all. Really? SWEET. Decided the next day to go back again as I still had the money I had budgeted for breakfast and once again a Good Samaritan paid. So I told the recruiter about when I got in to work, he says "Where?". Ended up "pre-briefing" there 2 times that week and 3x the next with him. I kind of felt uncomfortable about it but he didn't. He was still going there a year later when I came back for a visit, apparently it was some retired Marine colonel that owned the place and wouldn't let anyone in uniform pay for a meal.
 
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