By Carla Young

Our society trivializes legal and public holidays by making them an excuse for retail frenzy.  In keeping with that fashion, Veterans Day will probably breathe new life into Support Our Troops sticker sales.  But I always wonder if the civilians who drive around displaying those stickers understand the sacrifices of the troops they say they support.   

Not the people whose lives have been touched by the military in some way.  I mean the ones whose only contact with a GI has been watching a recruiting commercial.

I wonder if they understand what it means to believe in service before self so deeply that you willingly live in countries where it is not safe to display the flag of your homeland.  Do they know how it feels to pray that there are no terrorists in the crowd of angry protesters lining your child’s school bus route?  

While we were living in Italy, a 9-year-old boy from my son’s school found a pipe lying on the curb in front of his house.  It exploded and he lost his arm.  Can these supportive civilians imagine the bittersweet pride of knowing my 10-year-old learned pre-algebra along with pipe and letter bomb identification at school in the same week? 

Do they realize that, after we returned to live in the country I had served, Patrick’s high school classmates refused to accept the fact that he was an American born abroad and not a foreigner?  Do they ever stop to wonder about the many hidden sacrifices that linger long after the uniform is gone, or are they just “being part of the crowd” with popular stickers? 

Retail trends should reflect our values, not define them.  We should focus on what Veterans Day is really about:  appreciation for military service in all its forms.