Before the rant begins (anyone who knows me knew it was
coming) I want to say thank you to all of my fellow veterans past and present.
Your service wherever and whenever is appreciated
*** Disclaimer – Some of memories may be off in some
details, numbers even dates and locations possibly. But the gist of the story and its context in the grand scheme are correct. ***
Surprisingly, for a day this meaningful, the date has slipped my mind save that it was mid-March of 1990 and we'd been in Saudi Arabia for 7 months, in support of Operation Desert Storm. They had promised our return before Easter but we heard the same thing about Christmas, New Years and Valentines Day too so when they told us we'd be home by then, skepticism ran rampant. Its fulfillment brought a muted but happy response once we actually went wheels up and got off the plane to people speaking German. We'd escaped but were not quite home yet and I said two things.
1) I'll believe it when I see it
b) I will do that kiss the ground thing when we land..wherever
They didn't mention where until about an hour before. If they did,I missed in my distraction of trying to see Greenland (I didn't on that trip but later on my jaunt to Britain). At the point of any flight where they give you the seat belt/tray table lecture they said/confirmed that we'd be landing at Westover AFB in Chicopee MA and there would be a little welcome home celebration and Budweiser would have a beer tent set up. Now, quick factoid, Saudi Arabia was a dry country, so no alcohol really except one night in Qatar (not Bangkok). After that announcement, most of heard blah blah blah blah Budweiser beer tent. 7 months, missiles over your head and even hitting you etc, we felt we'd earned a drink.
We landed, we went down the steps and I did indeed drop to my knees and kiss the beautiful, AMERICAN Massachusetts concrete. Then in uniform, we walked into the little celebration of band music, flags waving and what seemed to most of south central Massachusetts,It was a celebration worthy of return of soldiers and, in my opinion though, almost overcompensation and an attempt (as most of the war accolades seemed to be a in bit of a way) to make up for how some Vietnam vets were treated, I believe we owe them a great debt of gratitude but I digress again. It was grand, it was welcome, I was like “wow, all this for learning to play spades and dress in chem suits 8 hours a day) Most of us walked hurriedly but thankfully towards the Budweiser tent visible at the end of the red, white and blue rainbows and I was no different.
I got to the end of the line, the tent on the right, and I glanced down amidst the craziness and saw a gentleman in a wheelchair. He looked to be a Vietnam vet (based on slightly worn looking green jacket and certain patches. He held a small flag waving it ever so slightly and when I looked into his eyes he sat straight up to a sitting attention pose, saluted me and said “Thank You”. Yes, I heard the words above the noise somehow, and then he saluted me (I was an enlisted Sergeant, I'd never been saluted and did not think I deserved one now) I stood up straight (getting bumped by the Bud Light bum rush) and saluted him back with the best salute I think I ever had and said “No, thank you, you deserve it more than I) That 2-minute encounter and exchange stuck with me more than the free beer at the tent as well as the run of a bar and our return celebration in Vegas. This was a veteran who probably was not treated very well and may or may not have been at the time. But he saluted me for my service and me for his. Mutual respect, mutual thanks and both of us veterans.
My moral? It doesn't matter where or when you served or what you did or anything during your military service. They/we are all veterans; active or retired, battle serving or not. Say thank you, but also realize there are vets who may not be getting recognition or help that they need. Do what you can, if anything but always recognize and respect who they are and what they did and do not blame the warriors for the war they were sent to. It’s not where, it’s that we did it. Thank you for indulging this rant.
