Like some other veterans, or maybe it is just me, I’m embarrassed when you thank me for my service. It’s because we feel that we were just doing our duty, just doing our job. Because I’m flustered I don’t often remember that this is what I want to respond:

“No, as a veteran, I want to thank you for taking the freedom we’ve defended and using it to live your life to the fullest and paying it forward by being all that you can be and, when possible, lifting up just one other person. It is our honor to serve.”