I know 2 men who served in Iraq from my neighborhood; they were saying that since they returned home that they have been treated differently: -they get offered things for free in stores -the police let one of them off for speeding when he saw his Army ID -the local Church gives them food/gift baskets every month Is this sort of thing common for veterans upon returning home?
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Unfortunately not much anymore. When I came back from Kyrgyzstan right after 9/11, some of the local fast food joints occasionally gave me my meal for free when the manager overheard me talking about my deployment with someone else in line. Had a lot of "thanks so much" from various people. That kind of stuff. It was nice cause it wasn't expected and it let us know we were appreciated. I'm currently in Baghdad right now, and when I come home in a few months, I'm sure I won't get any special treatment (nor do I expect anything...it's my job). We (Americans) seem to have a pretty short attention span. Most people probably go weeks, if not months now, not thinking about the war or the troops at all. They think that by putting a little yellow ribbon on their car, that they're supporting the troops. Everyone seems more concerned about the economy and other things than what's going on 6000 miles from them...and on one hand, it's ok. For most people, they have no direct connection to the war and the media doesn't report much anymore. Once the #s of deaths went down, the media decided to stop reporting all together instead of reporting all the great things that we are doing here and that most Iraqi's love us here and don't want us to leave. Thanks to all that do support the military. Whether you agree with the war or not, there should never be a soldier, sailor, airman or marine that comes home to the disrespect that is sometimes shown. //getting off my soapbox now :) Hope I answered your question well!)
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