Supporting Soldiers vs. Supporting War

When I first joined the Army in the early 70's, it definitely wasn't a popular choice. Appearing in public while wearing a uniform was to be avoided, unless you liked being called a "baby killer" or something equally nasty. Heck, most U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War had been over for a year before I joined up.  So now we are in another unpopular conflict, but there is a major difference this time. The overwhelming majority of folks have learned to separate service members from the war. In fact, since I've put on the uniform again I have been overwhelmed by the gestures of support from friends, family, and members of the public. It's almost apolitical, and that's the best feature of this amazing kindness and recognition of our military. While I don't plan on using this blog as a political forum, I do appreciate that so many of you have put aside your strongly-held convictions in order to regard us as fellow humans, not symbols. I sure don't take that for granted, having seen the other side of the coin 35 + years ago. Thanks, folks.