Discussion: How should we show veterans we appreciate their service?

Taken from KIRO Radio’s Jason Rantz Show.

Stop saying thank you to troops for the sacrifices they’ve made – that was the message coming from a rather provocative story in The New York Times last week. The message was that a growing number of enlisted and retired military don’t want your thanks.

When we covered this story, we were inundated with calls and emails from the many locals with connections to the military. Either they served, currently serve, or know people that serve.

So I decided to invite a few folks on to have a longer-form conversation about how we actually should thank members of the military for doing things many of us are so unwilling to do.

Local veterans Joe Jackson, Ben Wiselogle, and Peter Sessum joined me in studio for an in-depth discussion.

I began by sharing with them an excerpt from The New York Times piece:

To some recent vets — by no stretch all of them — the thanks comes across as shallow, disconnected, a reflexive offering from people who, while meaning well, have no clue what soldiers did over there or what motivated them to go, and who would never have gone themselves nor sent their own sons and daughters.

Here was their initial reaction:

Joe Jackson: For me it still catches me off guard that someone is thanking me for something I did because I was just a guy doing my job in the Army. I was trained to this job and that’s exactly what I did. I didn’t think it was anything special. It’s interesting, a little unsettling, but at the same time it’s one of those things I’m glad I was able to do what these people are thanking me for. I’m glad I was offered the opportunity to do it because it made me who I am.

Ben Wiselogle: I’ve got to be honest here. I think it is [superficial]. I think it demonstrates the major divide between civilians and the military today. Conceptually, just like Joe said, they have no idea what it means to serve and the reasons that we’re deployed. I think the author makes a great point in the last paragraph, it’s too bad that it’s buried in there – [he says] don’t just thank a veteran, get involved politically, get to know why your nation is at war, get to know what it actually is like for a combat veteran like Joe and Peter who have served on the ground, what their experience was actually like, just don’t allow yourself to stop with the thank you, that is what I say.

Peter Sessum: I think my experience is different. I think there’s a sincerity. I think that for me that is what I see. People know they haven’t gone overseas, that’s not their job. That was my job. And so I think what I’ve seen is people actually do appreciate the fact they didn’t have to go and I think a lot of people remember how they felt, and that helplessness at 9/11 that our country felt, and feel that they’re happy there are people who are there to be able to handle it.

Listen to the full conversation:

Taken from KIRO Radio’s Jason Rantz Show.
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