My work (defense contractor) sponsored a company of Marines (you know, care packages etc.) in Iraq, and recently they came home and visited our place of business. I happened to be near the podium (to make sure there were no technical glitches) and I overheard our HR director say how he was going to open with a big thank you etc. The CC said, "yeah, we're going to want to skip right over that, o.k.?" the director, confused, complied.
Later on I was speaking with two Marines about why the CC would say that. They replied, "If you saw what we had to do over there, you wouldn't be cheering and thanking us, either." They said it was very discordent, going through hell over there with no clear end game and then coming back here with everyone rah-rah-ing and waving the flag around.
So now I try to talk to the servicemen and women I meet about sports, weather, the Jackson trial, anything but the war. They've got enough on them as it is to then have to come back here and live up to our expectations as superheroes.