Wouldn't something like this get the point across to those who matter?
I enjoy seeing those on vehicle bumpers. Very discreet display of pride.
Maybe many of our veterans on this board are too polite or tactful to say this, so I'll go ahead and spit it out to see if anyone else feels this way:
After several years of experiencing it, I'm still uncomfortable with the trend of thanking us for our service. When someone asks "What do you do?" and I say that I'm a retired Navy submariner, at least 3/4 of the time I'm now thanked for my service.
I'm just not sure how to respond to that. It doesn't seem appropriate for me to say "You're welcome", and it seems equally awkward to say "Well, thank
you". It's certainly a bad idea to say "Hey, your tax dollars at work!" Best response I seem to have is "Oh, thanks" and then I move on to the next topic.
Its potential overuse seems to be taking it to the level of "Have a nice day". Maybe the phrase is a holdover from the days of conscription and societal guilt about "Welcome home" ceremonies. Maybe civilians aren't comfortable around veterans and figure that the phrase will put everyone at ease. Do we say it to doctors, police officers, and firefighters? Nurses & EMTs? Prosecuting attorneys? Sewage workers?
Fact is, when I joined the Navy I wasn't anticipating being thanked. I was eager to escape the family home to see the world, kick a little ass, and meet hot chicks (not necessarily in that order). "Service" was a means to an end, not an aspiration or an avocation. A few years later I was having too much fun to feel comfortable about being thanked, and for the back half of my career I was having too little fun to feel comfortable about being thanked.
I've never had another veteran thank me for my service. In fact, what's more likely to bring a smile to my face is hearing "Oh, great, another f$%^in' nuke, eh? When was your last haircut?" or "Oh, yeah? What boats were you on?"
I'm not criticizing the service-thanking practice, only explaining the effect it has on me. If it serves as a conversation starter and makes others more comfortable then it's fine with me. I just don't want people feeling obligated to thank me for something that wasn't intended to be an obligation in the first place.
But I'm not the type to have an "I served" bumper sticker or any other insignia on our cars. We don't keep much military memorabilia around the house, either-- my "I Love Me" wall is about two square feet in the garage. We don't even own shadowboxes.
It's the same way I felt when receiving personal awards for sustained superior administration. Yes, I did a great job and we all appreciated the benefits of having things run well because of our efforts. That felt good and that's good enough. Yes, the awards are necessary for promotion, and I earned those promotions, and we want people of my caliber promoted to those ranks. But it seems a bit inequitable to compare the citation on one of my personal awards to the citation on the same level of personal award received by an E-5 corpsman serving with a Marine unit. Usually accompanied by a combat action ribbon and a Purple Heart.
It's the same way I feel when I roll up to the base gate in my surfmobile with my ponytail and a four-day beard to be greeted by the civilian security contractor saluting my (retired) spouse's windshield sticker. Respectful, yes... but perhaps a bit misplaced and probably something they were told was the right thing to do.
And yeah, I agree with Feever-- no stickers without a DD-214 and a good discharge. Too many wannabes out there already.
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