America’s Military Heroes are in the airports, in the stores, in the churches and classrooms; they are walking on the streets, sitting on the trains, and on the planes. Often, I spot them by their uniform, camo duffle-bag, or their hats with patches and the names of the military branches on them. When I recognize them, I stop what I am doing and catch up to them and get their attention. “Sir? Excuse me, sir?” or, “Ma’am? Excuse me, ma’am?”
Once I catch their attention I move closer, pause and grin, look them in the eye, and extend my open hand and sincerely say,
“Thank you for serving.”
Afterwards, I return to my task. Probably, I will never meet these Heroes again. Nor will I have the opportunity to meet the Heroes who have died in action. Nonetheless, the quiet act of offering a handshake and an expression of gratefulness for their service personally honors America’s Military Heroes. You see, a handshake evokes “positive feelings of competence, trustworthiness, and it opens a relationship of positive cooperation (Huffington Post) ....” And the
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Likewise, it can be reasoned that servicemen and women represent the military community and its values: the work that they do bears upon the image of the United States Military. In addition, the U.S. Military does virtuous work through the serviceman and woman, which I am grateful for: protection and freedom. With this, when I honor the service of the individual American Hero, I honor the community responsible for training each male and female soldier superiorly and whole-heartedly. In respecting the U.S Military for its training, the entire military family is revered for their courageous service and sacrifice to America. In Mr. Mark Forester’s case, I honor him by honoring those who belong to and represent the family and the community that he also belongs to and