tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7873444722989157802.post5710004969035816625..comments2023-04-02T01:34:27.297-04:00Comments on UNcamouflaged: A veteran back in the "real world": The Hero DebateLauren Kay Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14248956855667204685noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7873444722989157802.post-50492206623420432262014-08-07T17:18:01.200-04:002014-08-07T17:18:01.200-04:00Thanks for your comments, Andria. I agree that we&...Thanks for your comments, Andria. I agree that we're dealing with growing pains...changing the public psyche isn't a quick process. I just hope we can make it as quick as possible!Lauren Kay Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14248956855667204685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7873444722989157802.post-84023817981454297762014-08-07T00:31:43.711-04:002014-08-07T00:31:43.711-04:00Lauren, thank you for bringing this up! I'm no...Lauren, thank you for bringing this up! I'm not a veteran (as you know), but we're an active-duty family so these sorts of things are on my radar. While I think most "thankers" genuinely mean well, you and Cara Hoffman are so right that there's a weird flip side to the martyr ethos, and I think it's inextricably linked to the fact that we are an all-volunteer military. There's that dismissive undertone of, "Thank YOU for choosing to have a miserable life so I don't have to!," the "not-having-to" also meaning not having to worry about the soldier after the fact, when it comes to health care and so forth... <br /><br />I feel like we are in a period of national growing pains, figuring out the all-volunteer-force thing and what it means for how service members and civilians relate to one another, and I'm curious to see how it plays out over coming years. Andriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18274508276595416473noreply@blogger.com