Did you expect or demand to be "worshipped" for your service?

[MADem]

1. Not in the slightest. I do think we have a few folks here who like to troll and divide on the topic

though. They love to stir the pot and fling shit--I find that annoying, and I'm pretty sure you do as well. I am also quite sure that the only uniform those shit stirrers ever wore involved an overabundance of polyester, a paper hat, and the phrase "Do you want fries with that?"

I think most of us "get it"--we know what we did in uniform, what we didn't do, what we might have done...but most of us, imperfect as many of us were, did the best we could and took our duties seriously. Some of us were luckier than others, certainly. None of us knew when we took the oath what was ahead.

We didn't ask to be worshiped, we simply hoped to not get shit upon, and to come back in one piece, more or less.

The reason many people DO take the time to thank vets for their service is because they--like most of us--have a sibling, a child, a parent, an uncle, a friend--someone--who was drafted in the Vietnam era. Many remember those who came back changed, and those who didn't come back at all. And how shitty they were treated, most of all.

People blamed the soldiers instead of the people who sent the soldiers. Those folks with an appreciation of history and a modicum of intelligence remember this, and they're determined to not repeat it. Servicemembers are instruments, they don't make policy, and people who don't get that have a knowledge problem.

The purpose of these divisive troop threads that we've seen, I think, is to provide a link to rightwing snarkers in an effort to "prove" that Democrats don't support the troops. To that, I say, Fuck 'em. The people who wore uniforms and who now serve in Congress are overwhelmingly Democrats. The Commander in Chief who stopped tippy-toeing around and got off his ass and got Bin Ladin was a Democrat. The GOP can't play the "We Love The Troops and You Commie Traitors Don't" card anymore. And that, IMO, is why we're seeing so much enthusiasm on some of these threads--they have a purpose outside of DU, and that purpose is to spread around more than a little bit of horseshit!

I'm with you on support for veterans-- I think the attention to and care for those who served in combat/combat support by the VA system can't be overfunded. I think we need more research, not less, into PTSD, and we need more and better opportunities for community based support. I think that the VA should find ways to do basic medical outreach that offers 'triage' assessments to seek out and deliver psychological help to those who are suffering silently. I think we as a nation need to patch up those folks that we broke--it's like Powell's Pottery Barn--only we're dealing with PEOPLE. We can't just buy 'em off, we have to try to fix them as best we can. It's a worthwhile investment. What is a nation that won't care for the neediest of their citizens--and that includes the citizens who served as soldiers?
It's the very least we can do. The very least.