Let me begin with what prompted me to write this article. As mentioned in a previous article, I am in a military relationship. Last week, my boyfriend and I were in the airport waiting for his flight. He was, of course, in full uniform. While in one of the busiest airports in the United States of America, full of thousands of people, only three people managed to thank my boyfriend for his service. With the hours and hours of being there, I expected more than three, and it is needless to say that I was upset about this. Maybe I'm biased, maybe I'm too proud of him, maybe I think he deserves all the praise. I'll be the first to say I do not always thank a man or woman in uniform. I understand that most people in an airport are in a rush, and maybe everybody didn't notice. Perhaps people are intimidated, or nervous.
However, it takes little to no effort and time to go up to someone and say "Thank you for your service." We say the words "thank you" to people who hold open doors, the bus driver, the cashier, why don't we say it more often to those making the ultimate sacrifice? I'm not saying stop saying thank you to the others listed above or anyone else, nor am I trying to belittle other people's occupation, everyone deserves to be treated with manners. But the way my boyfriend beamed with pride when thanked by those three people, that needs to happen more often, to more people in our military. Kindness goes a long way, we hear stories of people being talked out of suicide by simple kindness. Facts show that on average 22 veterans kill themselves everyday, and though this may be a stretch, but maybe, just maybe simple, "Thank you for your service to our country," could help reduce this heart-wrenching number. It would leave them knowing that someone, somewhere, is thankful for their sacrifice.
Our military makes the ultimate sacrifice each day for us - the citizens of the United States. They deserve our respect. They are separated from their families and loved ones often for months at a time, leave home, lose privacy, lose the ability to choose where to go and when, et cetera. This is not to say that there are not positive benefits to being in the military, because their certainly are, however, that is beside the point that I am trying to make. The point I'm trying to make is we owe our military our thanks and should voice that if we ever see someone in uniform. However, I understand that this is America, and people are free to respect whoever and do whatever they want, but if you choose not to thank a serviceman, please reconsider.
After all, they are fighting for us, our rights, our country, and much more.
The least we could do is say "thank you."
