Veteran's Day 2017

 As a fellow veteran I just wanted to take a moment and thank all my brothers and sisters for all the hard work. With the long hot motor pool days, shenanigans, boring hurry up and wait days, the monotony, the politics, and the high school drama that many of you hear about, I feel obligated to remind you all, who may not have gone this path, of the stress of being pushed into unfamiliar settings, being isolated from any and all family right out of high school, training for weeks or months on end in the field with little sleep, portable showers twice a week if your lucky/MRE's/water buffalos because there is no running water where you had to set up your tents, not knowing how to integrate back to society and learn a completely new language, code of ethics, and lifestyle from people who care more about a selfie than respecting their parents, while we still get harassed for saying "sir" or "ma'am" out of respect, and dont forget the occasional deployments. Please, again, please, no matter what your political or personal beliefs about the military, or any individual mess-ups you may have met along the way, please do not assume you know what any other veteran is going through just because of stories you've heard or a person you may know. I have lost way more of my battle buddies in the years following the deployment from suicide, than those killed in action. So many veterans feel like they do not belong, have no support, suffer from survivors guilt, or even just feel a sense of uselessness for not being able to do the job they were trained to do for so many years, either because of getting out voluntarily, or being medically discharged, which adds an extra layer of guilt, because now, at somewhere in their 20's, they can no longer do the job most 50 year olds are still doing without breaking a sweat. For so many years, I was lost in this pain. I know now, that it was only due to my own insecurities, but I will tell you, it would have been alot harder had I not had the support of family, friends and even strangers along the way. But just because I faked a smile for so many years, doesn't mean that I wasn't hurting just as much as those who can't even build up the courage to fake a smile as you pass them on the street or work with them, or go to school with them. Please do not assume that you know anyone's story. All I ask, is don't be rude, don't be mean, don't judge. Just be as accepting to veterans as you are to the people you meet at church. We are all humans first, and our greatest goal of this life is to love one another. I am grateful and proud for another God-given day being numbered among the few.