Growing up as a military dependent, it was never unusual to see service members in uniform, hear the deafening roar of F-16 jets or even have my dad leave for months at a time. In fact, what was more unusual was the idea that those things weren’t the reality for everyone else.
By the time I hit high school and started interacting with a larger group of non-military members I had started to realize my experience wasn’t necessarily the norm. Still, coming to Idaho State University was a far cry from living in Mountain Home, where the close proximity of Mountain Home Air Force Base and Gowen Field normalized military life a bit more.
Recently I’ve started an independent study on all aspects of military life. Despite the 18-plus years I spent immersed in the culture, there’s still so much I don’t know or understand about military life, and I’m sure my sentiment is shared by other civilians.
In speaking to everyone from ROTC instructors and students to active duty Army members and a variety of veterans in between, I’ve heard such impactful statements, all made in such a humble manner.
I think it’s a universally accepted truth that us civilians will never understand what military service members experience, regardless of which branch they served in and what they experienced during their time in the service.
According to many of the individuals I spoke with, the general public tends to be appreciative and friendly. Their thanks, though often met with a humble reply, don’t go unappreciated by the men and women in our armed forces.
What baffled and offended me were the stories I heard of people who berate veterans or consider their service an invitation to begin an argument on the politics of war.
An individual’s military service does not automatically mean he or she is in favor of the wars our country is fighting, and it certainly doesn’t mean that person joined the military in hopes of hurting or killing other humans.
Their political stances and motivations behind their career choices are as diverse and numerous as those in the civilian world.
One veteran I talked to recently described the military position as somewhere between police officers and firefighters. In some circles they’re glorified and revered as heroes. In others, they’re thought of as the scum trying to unfairly control the rest of us.
In all situations, I think it’s important to base judgment on personal assessment rather than jump to conclusions based on the actions of others. For individuals who have no personal ties to the military, it might be easy to demonize service members as faceless drones carrying out the government’s dirty work.
For me, olive drab is closely associated with my dad, a man whose personality, interests and story are so much more than a camouflage uniform.
Regardless of your military knowledge or personal politics, I would encourage everyone to treat veterans and men and women in uniform with the respect they’ve earned.
It’s impossible to know just from looking at a service member what sort of experiences and motivations he or she has had. Rather than spout off opinions, consider asking them what their thoughts are, and remember, if you have nothing nice to say it’s better to say nothing at all.