So many, including those serving now, have given so much more than was asked of me . . . I never "saw the elephant" (Saigon fell a year before I turned 18) but did my time as one of Golding's "rough men who stand watch in the night" (Iranian hostage crisis) with the Seabees. Every year, the JNROTC unit at the high school where I teach comes by and pins a carnation on me for that, and my kids ask me about it.
Traditions. We have them. It's kind of special to be so honored, 30 years after the fact.
Hail to all who have and currently serve. The nation you protect thanks you.
~Boar