This is a very touching post and I'm so glad that this country is finally starting to treat it's servicemen/service women and veterans with the respect that they deserve.

There was a time period during the Viet Nam War that service people were treated with no respect at all by a majority of the general public. I remember the day I returned after a year's tour in Viet Nam and the welcome home that my ship received and I personally received. I remember well pulling into Miami Beach Coast Guard Station and having only the immediate families on the dock with no media coverage at all. After the ship docked, I and several of my shipmates took a cab to the airport. My family was in Jacksonville and I had to fly from Miami to Jacksonville with a weeks leave. As we left the base by cab protestors tried to stop the cab and when this didn't work they spit on the cab. When we arrived at the airport the young people tried to pick fights with us and called us killers, among other things. The airline tried to talk us into changing into civilian clothes but I and my friends refused.

I still have bitter memories from the Viet Nam War Era and anytime I see a protestor saying something about this country my wife has to step in to calm me down. It is so good to see this part of our country healing.