See that old Asian guy over there? The one with a cane in front of him that looks to be about 90 something? He was a badass during WW2. He fought with the 442nd RCT and got torn up pretty bad in Italy but didn't slow down until he was ordered off the hill. He looks like someone's kindly great grandfather. He's a veteran.
A couple of times at the VFW he'd tell the younger guys he was in charge of handing out crash helmets to Kamikaze pilots while he was in the Japanese Army. His WW2 buddies used to laugh like hell when he did that. They knew what he had done in Italy. He hasn't done that in a while because he doesnt get around much anymore.
So is the young guy he's talking to. He spent 4 years fixing machinery at a Naval depot in Indiana but because he was in the Navy everyone wants him to answer questions about boats. He never set foot in one his entire enlistment. Both of the guys are talking about their kids.
Let's go to Moe's Bar and look around. The quiet guy well into his third boilermaker is a veteran. He saw too much in Vietnam and has had a drinking problem since. The kind looking guy over there that's nursing a lone beer and is getting ready to go home to the wife and kids. He's got a Silver Star tucked away somewhere and his wife and kids don't about know it.
There's two big mouths in the joint. One saw no action whatsoever, the other one has a chest full of medals displayed at his place over the fireplace. Both of them are a pain in the ass.
Moe's a veteran, too. Marine Corps for two years. He was drafted during Vietnam and selected to be a Marine.
So's that fat cook in the back room. He was a cook in the Army and occasionally wears a T-shirt proclaiming himself to be an Army cook. It says 'Death from within' as a spoof on the Airborne's 'Death from above' emblem. The cook's a real character and a natural born storyteller. He tells a great story about being over run and having to leave a huge prepared meal behind. The enemy supposedly ate it and got so sick they walked in and retook the base without a shot fired. We all know it's BS but the story is just so damned funny we play along with it.
The guy with the missing arm that wishes the two big mouths would shut up lost his arm in Afghanistan.
A trip to the supermarket is in order. There's two friends there. Both were Navy SEALS. one has deployed a couple of times. The other one never did. The way to tell them apart is the guy with the big scar on his face didn't deploy. He got that in a car wreck when he got hit by a texting teenage girl. Those two share a lot in common, though.
Over in produce is another veteran. He was discharged after some drunken shenanigans with a bad conduct discharge. It wasn't a dishonorable so he's a veteran, too.
Sitting in front of the register waiting for his wife we find a former Air Force person. He fixed airplanes at Minot for four years. He never picked up a gun during his entire hitch.
The chubby middle aged woman with the two kids over there served in the Marines as supply person. She married a Marine that she met after she was discharged. She went from being a corporal to being a dependent wife for a year until he got out.
The chipper young man over by the sandwich bar doesn't look old enough but he really is. He was recently medically discharged after a parachuting accident. He's too embarrassed to tell anyone he served but he did and he has no reason to be embarrassed.
Moving on, the guy driving the trash truck is a veteran. He did four years in the Army and has two deployments overseas. He's actually finishing up at a trade school using his GI bill and driving the truck to make ends meet.
The guy sitting down with a cup of coffee over there is a veteran. Graduated from college and served as an officer for a hitch. Got out as a captain and was picked up my a Fortune 500 company. They love former military officers and often fast track them.
The woman in the scrubs walking home is a veteran. She served in the Navy and took her Navy skills with her when she got out. She's an X-ray technician.
The guy in handcuffs in the back of the passing police car is a vet. He got booted out after two years of a four year hitch as an undesirable. Meth got him thrown out and it's why he's in the back of the police car. He, too is a veteran.
So is the judge the meth head is going to face in the morning. He served as an infantry officer and got out after Desert Storm. Took his GI bill and went to law school.
See the homeless bum on the corner? Someone told me he's a Bronze Star holder. Strangely enough, he cleans himself up every so often and holds a job for several months until he tires of it and then it's back to the streets.
Not so for the other guy a block away. He's a mess. He was actually kind of a substandard soldier but was discharged honorably. He's homeless because he's just too lazy to work. He's a veteran.
Speaking of the homeless, the guy that helps out at the shelter says he can spot a fellow vet a mile away. When the shelter hands out the bedding he watches. The guys that whip a neat bunk together in a couple minutes with hospital corners are generally veterans.
So is the doctor the X-ray technician took X-rays for a couple of hours ago. He's an interesting man. He enlisted as a private with a GED and somehow took advantage of practically everything offered him. He's now an orthopedic surgeon and retired after 20 some years as a lieutenant colonel!
He's still in the reserves, though because he enjoys staying in the military loop.
Then there's Bubbles. she's the stripper walking into the club for a night of topless dancing. She got out last year as an Army Sp/4 working in supply. She was assigned to CIF and made sure the field gear was all accounted for. She's a veteran. I hear Bubbles is actually in school somewhere during the day. She dances three nights a week.
That guy passing by in the snappy convertible is a stockbroker and served for four years. He got his degree with his GI bill and is doing rather well.
Headed back home we see a cable guy and a lineman. The cable guy served in Desert Storm driving a tank. The lineman was a Navy corpman administering medical services to a marine unit. He never deployed and will tell you he's damned glad he didn't.
Following the lineman's power lines we get to the power plant. The guy sitting by the console with his feet up served in the Navy. He was a submariner on a boomer and worked in the nuclear power plant. He was offered the job he has while he was still in the Navy.
So what is a veteran?
They come in all shapes and sizes of all socioeconomic groups. They're fat, some are skinny. some are doing well, some are not. Some are heroes, some are bums and some are both. Most are somewhere in between.
They all have different stories.
They all share one thing in common, though.
At one time they all signed a check to the United States government payable up to and including their lives.
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