Tony Belarmino: Find a way to say thanks to a veteran

Fifty years ago I was in and out of Norfolk, Va. In my road trips while there, the furthest north I got was Gettysburg, Pa.

Two months ago, I finally got to Philadelphia for the annual convention of a social organization I belong to, and I had time to spend a full day roaming around Independence Historical National Park.

New Hall is now a military museum. In 1791, Secretary of War Henry Knox moved from Carpenter Hall to set up his office in New Hall. It was built as a great tribute to veterans and it is fitting that acknowledgment is housed in the forerunner of the Pentagon in Arlington, Va.

The way we pay tribute to veterans has changed in the last half a century. Today, people go out of their way to thank veterans, even if it is usually a simple “Thank you for your service.” Sometimes it is more elaborate.

I heard the story of a man who sitting in a restaurant with his wife who bought dinner for a young man in uniform who was eating with a young lady and a toddler. The waitress told them a Vietnam veteran had bought his dinner. The young man and young lady kept looking around trying to isolate the “usual suspects” but didn’t figure it out.

All of us are surrounded by veterans, even if we don’t know who they are. I am often easy to spot because of the “Veteran” license plates with a Department of Navy emblem on my S-10 pickup.

Who are the veterans? The clerk at the hardware store could have a DD-214 (certificate of discharge) at home. The fellow student at Modesto Junior College or Stanislaus State could have sailed the ocean blue. Your auto mechanic could have learned his trade in the Army motor pool. The lawyer who drew up your living trust might have served on a flight line before going to college then onto law school. The nurse you trust to take your pulse could be a retired Air Force flight nurse.

Your pastor, whom you love and depend on, could have very well been a Marine who did a tour of duty in Vietnam.

A Navy veteran friend of mine stated a profound generalization about vets: “Those who talk the most did the least.”

Members of the Greatest Generation were strangely silent about some things, including their service. I knew my father-in-law was in the Army, but I never knew what he did. Preparing for his funeral almost 12 years ago, Judy’s siblings started going through his papers and came across his military records. He was awarded French medals for efforts in liberating France. He never talked about his travels in Europe to any of us. He did his duty, came home, married my mother-in-law and did his part to create the baby boom.

The Greatest Generation is quickly fading away, but we owe them a debt of gratitude even if they don’t want to talk about it.

Wednesday is a holiday and a day off work for many people, in honor of Veterans Day. We should go out of our way to find and thank those who have done a small part to make America the great country it is.

This story was originally published November 9, 2015 at 5:31 AM with the headline "Tony Belarmino: Find a way to say thanks to a veteran."