Each & everytime I am fortunate enough to hear, "thank you for your service", I am both humbled AND proud to have served . I served four tours of duty in Southeast Asia (SEA) as a B-52 pilot flying over 260 combat missions over South and North Vietnam.
I had a difficult time knowing what to say when the phrase, "thank you for your service" was first used to show appreciation for our men & women who have served this great country. Most of us never expected to have people recognize us in any special way, because we never felt as if we had done anything special......nothing that any other true American would not have done. We were never concerned about the draft because we all felt that we needed to serve this great country in anyway we could for the honor of living in the good ole' US of A.
For those of you who still make the effort of thanking us for our service, please keep it up and know that we appreciate and cherish your kind thoughts.
I believe that the original question that started this post was, What goes through your mind when a stranger says to you - “thanks for your service” ? I don't think that is the question, the question is, "what goes through your mind AFTER a "fellow American" says thanks for serving your country. It makes this ole' body stand a couple of inches taller and puts a big smile on my face.
