I did appreciate some of the arguments about other service-related professions. Like Duffy, I, too, believe in the service of first responders and teachers. Service comes in many shapes and sizes. I view service as an act of helping people or a community through selflessness. I know my definition of service is different and there are varying opinions on what service means.
When Duffy reminds us that service is more than being in the military, I am thankful because he is right. The social worker who protects children, the firefighter who runs into a burning building, the EMT who responds in a moment’s notice – all serve.
That is where I stop liking the blog post. Getting rid of Veterans Hiring Preference is a bad idea. Veterans Hiring Preference exists to help level the playing field for our military. A soldier with 20 years in the infantry has job skills, but those skills are not easily ascertained if the soldier isn’t brought in for an interview. Veterans Hiring Preference provides equity.
What is wrong with thanking the troops for their service? Nothing. There is nothing wrong with thanking families for their sacrifice. I believe most Americans don’t know what else to say or do for the military. It is up to us, the military, to let America know what we need.
What do we need? We need help, support, friendship, community, love, stability and family. We need you, our citizens, to care for us because we have been through so much.
We need to feel welcome, and we need to fit in and be a part of our community even if we only live in that community for a short time.
We need sequestration to end because it is getting really hard to do more with less.
We need elected officials to stop using us as political pawns. We are people with families.
Never once have I heard the military or the military family demand that we be placed on a pedestal and thanked ad nauseam for our service. Because the moment we are placed on a pedestal, people stop looking around to see what is really going on.
It hurts when a member of the military community stereotypes us as entitled. For those of us advocating for service members and veterans, our days just got a little bit harder. Thanks.
Susan Reynolds can receive messages at military@fayobserver.com.
