I made myself watch "Saving Private Ryan" yesterday. And the full series of "Band of Brothers" last week. Anyone who doesn't fully appreciate the sacrifice and hardships conquering Germany involved needs their head examined.
My mother was in the first graduating class of enlisted WAVES in WWII. My dad flew on B-24's with the Army Air Force. My mother's brother was a USN Corpsman in the South Pacific. My uncle by marriage was in the USMC, in North Africa among other places. A family tradition that was the norm in those times.
IMHO, it's a crying shame that our country now has very few veterans in positions of leadership. And the vast majority of the population of the U.S. doesn't even know an active duty service member. Disrespect for veterans coming from the highest levels too. It all comes from no skin in the game.
"Thank you for your service" are now mostly empty rote words that are intended to make the speaker feel better, not so much the person hearing them.
Rant over.