I'm going to say something I've never said out loud before. I'm uncomfortable with people thanking me for my service. Yes, I served and did so with tremendous pride and an unwavering devotion to my duty to my country and with a full willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice if my mission required it.
But serving my nation was always something I wanted to do. It was something I couldn't accept not doing.
I attempted to join the Navy when I was 19. I was rejected because of my juvenile criminal record. The military holds records of potential recruits for 2 years. My initial intent was to wait 2 years and attempt to join the Navy again. At that age life happens and I didn't end up joining the Navy until I was 23. I had my juvenile record expunged and did not tell the Navy about any of it. I even had a security clearance. During the process of joining the Navy they told me that I had to tell them about my record. However, the judge who granted me my expungement told me that I was no legally required to tell anyone I had a juvenile record, including the federal government. I took his word for it and it turned out he was telling me the truth.
Anyway. I enjoyed my service. It was the best time of my life. I met the most amazing people, both those who I served with and those who lived in places like Dubai, Singapore, Perth AU, Guam, Hong Kong, Victoria BC, Hawaii. And those who I was in training with who were from Bahrain being trained along side U.S.sailors in the weapon systems their nation bought from the U.S..
I got more out of my service than I gave. That's ultimately what I'm saying here. I don't need to be thanked. I owe my thanks to the U.S. Navy for giving me an opportunity to serve my nation and providing me with training and experience that has led to this HS drop out having a much better quality of life than I ever dared dream of having growing up.
So if you want to thank someone, find someone who has served in combat, who has killed and watched their friends be killed. those are the veterans who I thank because they are the ones who have given us more than we can ever give them in return.