# Veterans Day and "thank you for your service" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 10, 2017, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veterans-day-and-thank-you-for-your-service/801187 "2017-11-10T03:32:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2017, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veterans-day-and-thank-you-for-your-service/801187/41 "2017-11-11T20:31:19Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > On the contrary, most would actually prefer you don’t say anything. It’s awkward, kind of annoying and can be distracting when they’re in the middle of a conversation and someone walks over and interrupts in order to thank them for your service. Then they feel guilty because they just got annoyed and bothered by someone who was simply trying to be nice and show their support. > > It’s not really a big deal, either way though. But you’re definitely not expected to say anything and it is preferred that you don’t, unless it’s at a specific Veteran-thanking function. If a soldier is in uniform at the airport, he is there on business and just wants to get to his destination or pick someone up, just like everyone else. They don’t want to be bothered. Good to know. [quote] Whatever you do, though. Never ever ever do this shit: [/QUOTE] Wow, I had no idea that this existed. It’s not appreciated, eh? ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2017, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veterans-day-and-thank-you-for-your-service/801187/42 "2017-11-11T21:36:38Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I have to admit to a bit of disgruntlement as well, as all my 23 years were pre-1990. Nowadays servicemen receive applause and are given priority plane boarding and de-boarding. They get free meals and entertainment on aircraft, as well. Prior to our involvement in the Middle East, all you heard was crickets chirping. I didn’t expect jack shit, and didn’t receive jack shit, and didn’t care about receiving jack shit, other than the reduced airfare if you traveled in uniform (which eventually went away). The adulation of the military since 9/11 makes me extremely uncomfortable. R. Kipling felt the same way in _Tommy_. ---
**Author:** ![RollOutTheBarrel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rolloutthebarrel/32/1649_2.png) [@RollOutTheBarrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RollOutTheBarrel)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2017, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veterans-day-and-thank-you-for-your-service/801187/43 "2017-11-12T03:18:50Z")
I usually say, “thank you” or “happy to do it”. It may seem weird to thank somebody for thanking me, but it works for me. 🙂 > [@Acsenray](#): > > Is it expected? Am I bad if I don’t say this to service members? Not at all. [quote=“Bear\_Nenno, post:40, topic:801187”] Whatever you do, though. Never ever ever do this shit: [/QUOTE] I’m not sure how I’d react if someone did that to me. Maybe a wave or something. ---
**Author:** ![betterlifethroughchemistry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/betterlifethroughchemistry/32/3094_2.png) [@betterlifethroughchemistry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betterlifethroughchemistry)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2017, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veterans-day-and-thank-you-for-your-service/801187/44 "2017-11-12T05:52:14Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > I reply with “Thank you.” I don’t have much else to say. I do occasionally thank the other person for paying for my college, but only if I’m close enough to the thanker. LOL, my son is active Army, he went in with a four-year degree but opted for non-com as they were offering a $15K bonus and forgiveness of Federal loans over a four year period…his MOS is 35G, a squinter, he has not yet deployed, and if he did, he wouldn’t be outside the wire…he told me the first time someone thanked him in public while in uniform, his thought was, “Thanks for paying off my loans…” ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veterans-day-and-thank-you-for-your-service/801187/45 "2017-11-13T00:21:52Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > That’s interesting, because as a layperson, I would think it potentially intrusive to ask someone details about their service. I have veteran friends who hate anyone knowing they are veterans, and others who discuss it openly. With someone you don’t know, how are you to guess what the individual veteran will find appropriate, unless you let them take the lead? I guess that’s my dilemma. My uncle and a close family friend have PTSD from the horrible conditions they were subjected to in the conflicts they were deployed to. I would not dream of asking a veteran what they did, because I know how awful it could have been for them and I wouldn’t want to cause a total stranger to go there. (I wouldn’t ask a friend or a relative either.) If someone is wearing a hat that says veteran, I will thank them respectfully, and maybe a little tearfully. (I’ve got a lump in my throat just typing about it). Knowing what my uncles who served in Vietnam went through coming home, I want every veteran to know that they are appreciated. Now if we could get the government to treat our veterans with the respect they have earned, our appreciation would be much more obvious to our veterans. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veterans-day-and-thank-you-for-your-service/801187/46 "2017-11-17T19:01:55Z")
I give a polite smile and a nod. What I really want to do is explain they have no idea what they are even thanking me for, and rather than hurl an empty phrase at me I’d appreciate them quietly voting in a way that reduces the number of wounded vets, or at least improves the condition of the ones we have. For my part I try to keep my service history to myself so I don’t have to struggle to not be an ass about it. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veterans-day-and-thank-you-for-your-service/801187/47 "2017-11-17T20:04:35Z")
I tell them “I didn’t do it for you. I did it to kill the Nazis” Then I stare off into the distance silently until they walk away. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veterans-day-and-thank-you-for-your-service/801187.md?page=2)