Thank you for your service
Today I am posting about my thoughts from yesterday’s experience. One of the interesting things about working with the public is I have no idea what I’m going to get that day. I work as an optician which is basically like a pharmacist for glasses. I fix them, diagnose what is wrong, and translate eyeglass refractions into lens options that serve the patient in their daily life. The community I have grown up in has a large concentration of retirees and veterans. Most of the help the rural communities need is in the town I work in. I had an unexpected interaction with a gentleman looking for AR night driving glasses. We had a good conversation about how they work, what the options were, and general plans for the day. I noticed his hat that read “Vietnam Veteran” with the logo. I said, “Thank you for your service” which is something I do for all our veterans when I get a chance to help them with their eyewear. This gentleman stopped and looked at me like he’d not heard that much in his life.
He told me about his experience as a veteran during the time of the Vietnam war. He wasn’t treated as someone worth anything for many years. Not over there or here when he got back. His experience coming home was Americans waiting to throw feces at him as he disembarked the plane. They called him “baby killer” and worse. He told me about having to make the impossible decision to choose between himself and a child with C4 and a metal plate strapped to their back, delirious with heroin in their systems. There is not an easy choice. War crimes are impossible to fathom much less live through witnessing.
Nightmares plagued him for years. Agent Orange gives him unsteady hands. American citizens treating him like dirt for serving. Only recently did he get full disability from the VA. He is now the last man in his unit alive today.
I didn’t live during the time of the Vietnam war. My father was in the military at the time, but could not go because he had flat feet. He was sad about that because he wanted to serve. This veteran reckons he was blessed not to have gone. I would have to agree.
There was silence in the room as he spoke. There were others there who didn’t know they would be witnesses to our history in real time. Their expressions were horrified. I hugged him and held his hand as he expressed thanks for being honored for his service. He said it melts his heart to be told that now when he was shunned before.
There are so many complex emotions wrapped up around service members, wars, deployments, and conflict. If you choose to serve, I thank you for being brave enough to put your life out there. I cannot comprehend the full weight of that decision because I have never had to make it. I do understand I am lucky to not have to make it.
So, as we go into Veteran’s Day and remember those who have served and are serving, thank you. I hope you have a blessed day. And if you are eligible for services at the VA, I can tell you it has gotten better. Please consider their programs and resources that you have earned.
