I work in a resteraunt and recently had an elderly gentlman seated at one of my tables; he was dressed nicely in slacks and a sports jacket and he was treating himself by going out. Through our conversation throuhgout his dinner he told me that he had visited a poster shop earlier that day. He was searching for the famous poster of the WWII soldier coming home and passionately planting a kiss on his girl. This held special significance because the gentleman sitting at my table had fought in World War II, and as a token of gratitude the poster was given to him as a gift. I was also informed this was the first time in fifty-some years that he had ever been thanked for his service. My manager bought his meal that night and he left with tears in his eyes; but it left me wondering, "What are we doing wrong in this country that we can't even thank a man for fighting for our freedom?"
Do we do enough for our soldiers? Is the occasional discount at Denny's enough to thank these men and women for risking their lives? To be honest, I don't know what we could do that would be "enough" but I know fifty years is too long to go unthanked. Is our freedom something we take for granted, do we too often look over the blood spilled to achieve this freedom?
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3 comments:
Wow! I'm really glad you shared your story - because you're absolutely right... 50 years is too long to never be thanked for all he's done. There are quite a few military men and women in my family and some of the stories of how they (or their friends) have been treated are appalling. Thank you for being the exception and treating that man that way.
It seems to me that sometime we caught up in how angry we are for war or are own lives that we forget the people who helped us. Sometimes we celebrate them with a medal if they nearly died but still, i'd really like it if they got thanked more often, to many times we take forgranted that people fought for us..
I do believe the soldiers, our heros go unthanked so often. Whether we agree with the war or not, there are people over there fighting for us. Tey put their lives on the line daily, giving up every ounce of what they knew, the normal life, so that we can enjoy our freedoms. I come at this from a personal standpoint, from having grandpas and uncles who fought and from a brother who just enlisted. I am proud of the people that fight, but am sad to say I am probably one of those who doesn't thank them enough. Maybe my first step is just to say thank you more often.
Thanks for sharing Jordan.
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