I was reading a post at Tequila Mockingbird, about a friend of the author’s who took the time and trouble last weekend to hand out thank-you cards to the veterans who attended the dedication of the World War II monument in DC. A very simple gesture, yes, but it had to be overwhelming to those who received a card. I’m an Army veteran, and although I never was asked to do anything even close to what a combat veteran had to face, I know that little things like that mean a lot.

After I finished my time in the Army, I returned to OU to try to clean up the mess I had made of my academic career. I concentrated on classes for about a full year before I returned to The Post, the student-run newspaper in Athens. There were good folks working there, I fell back into the routine pretty easily. Made lots of friends, and did my best not to be one of those veterans who never stops talking about being a veteran all the time.

Everyone knew, but no one made a big deal about it … and that’s probably how I wanted it to be.

Still, my experience in the Army made me a different person, and while I never wanted to get in the way of the folks who had to shoot at people, rather than plastic or plywood targets, I did make it a point to venture across the street to the veterans’ monument on College Green each Veteran’s Day, where the local American Legion/VFW guys held a little service.

The Post never made a big production about the service; we generally sent a photographer and ran standalone art from the event. So one year, as I was standing in back, under the pine trees that grow right next to the monument, I was a little surprised when our photographer stopped what he was doing and walked up to me.

Will, the photographer, stretched out his hand.

“This might seem a little cheesy, but I think it’s important,” he said as he shook my hand. “Anyone who served in the military, no matter what the time, deserves our thanks.

“So. Thanks for what you did.”

I was speechless. I tried not to cry. I gulped and told Will that I genuinely appreciated the gesture. He just smiled and returned to shooting the service.

That’s what it meant to me.