Sad Hero's

I flew down to South Florida and found myself sitting in the middle of about twenty members of the military who were returning to Iraq. Again. While their uniforms were crisp and smart, their attitudes were sad and weary. Most stuffed their backpacks in the overhead bins, collapsed into their seats, closed their eyes and fell asleep.

"Hello Sir," my seat mate said, giving me his hand.

"Good morning," I replied. "So you're going back?"

"Yes Sir, I'd much rather crawl in your bag and go wherever you're going?"

I immediately felt badly for him. "How many times?" I asked.

"This is only my third," he answered in a weary voice, "but most of these guys have been five or six times."

"Hard?"

"Yes sir. We'll be there for eight months, but they'll probably extend that. They normally do once we're there."

"Do you get time off when you're there?"

Well, we get some leave, but it's terrible. It gives you too much time to think."

Then he told me about his little girl and how the hardest part was leaving her. Then he joined his comrades and fell asleep.

As we made our way towards landing, the stewardess came over the intercom announcing that members of our military were on the plane, as if no one had noticed their uniforms, and asked that we thank our heroes for their service to our country. And applause burst out.

And every member of the military winced when this happened and it seemed as their sadness deepened. I told my friend to be safe, and he just nodded as he shook my hand and looked at me with far away eyes. And my heart broke for him a little bit.

I meet a lot of homeless veterans in my work. They thrive in the military and flounder when they no longer have the structured life. Once they are no longer hero's, many lose their sense of purpose and they flounder and they fail and they end up alone. While I admire the commitment of these soldiers and understand the need for their service, I've never been one for hero worship. And I certainly don't think that it does anyone much good.

And as the applause died down on the plane, and the far away look crept into the eyes of every soldiers sitting around me, I don't think that they appreciated it much either.