Appreciation of veterans gives fresh perspective

Lou Marzeles
News Editor     

     A couple of years ago, in a restaurant, I witnessed a Vietnam veteran sitting next to a table where a pair of soldiers, still in uniform and recently returned from Iraq, were seated.
     The Vietnam vet told them he appreciated their service. The two Iraq vets told him they appreciated his.
     Visibly moved, the Vietnam vet said that in the 37 years since his return from Vietnam, this was the first time anyone had ever thanked him for his service there. Not family, not friends. It took two total strangers far younger than him and 37 years to have appreciation expressed.
     A lot of people go a lot of extra miles for others. Thankfully, it happens all the time, though it's not always very visible. Those drawn to going extra miles typically are the kind of people who don't go looking for people to thank them. For these, kind acts and service are themselves the fulfillment of all the appreciation they'll ever need. Nonetheless, I urge us all to express our collective and individual appreciation for our veterans come this Veterans Day.
     It's not for them. It's for us.
     Commonly it does mean a lot to veterans to have thanks offered to them, even as they may not be looking for it. It does serve them to express appreciation, and that is not to be overlooked. But the fuller experience of offering thanks belongs to the thanks giver, to my sense. Thanking veterans for their contributions to the country, and our security, affords us fuller appreciation for both.