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[BigRedDog]

I regularly wear a hat (I don't have as much hair as I used to have) identifying my former Army unit.  When I am in Monroe it is not uncommon to get a nice "thank you for your service' at various places around town.  But, when we're down here there are days that I will get that 4-5 times a day.  Three of us stood and talked about the situation with N. Korea  at the local restaurant-coffee shop this morning.  Last spring I had a complete stranger buy breakfast for my wife and me.  I have no idea on earth who it was although my wife did comment later that she had seen a man 'staring' at my hat for a long time while we were eating.  The waitress had actually already brought our check and somehow she managed to sneak it back off our table.  Our waitress did say it was a man that eats there occasionally but is not a regular.

And then 3-4 days later we were eating breakfast and a young gal maybe 12-13-14 walked up to our table and asked if she could have our check stating that her Dad wanted to buy breakfast for us.  We did get a chance to talk to her Dad for a few minutes.  He was a coach at one of the local schools.  No military background at all...   just enjoyed doing it occasionally (our lucky week I guess).  We haven't crossed paths with either party this year but we're still looking.  I'd sure like to return the favor and spend some time talking.

Then yesterday I noticed the spare tire on our trailer was down to 14 psi so I took it down to the local tire dealer where our daughter has her repair work done when Dad isn't around to do it.  She offered to stop and pick up the tire after they called and said it was ready to go.  When she got there the man said he thought he had seen that I was wearing a veteran's hat of some sort when I dropped it off.  She told him that "Yes, Dad is a Veteran".  He marked the bill 'veteran' and put the tire in the back of her truck for her.  He said it is their policy to do tire repairs for all veterans at no charge!!!

I'm not aware of any tire dealer at home that does that but I'd like to hear if there is. 

I thought at one time I had started a thread asking for anyone to list any local business that does some form of recognition like this but I can't find it...   to far back now I guess.

Anyway, if you know of someplace please post it...

I know many restaurants do something around Veteran's Day or the 4th of July and that is great too...  but I'm looking for those that show their appreciation 'year around'

And please don't get the idea that I'm only looking for 'free' stuff...  I'm more interested in recognizing those that are recognizing US!

To any and all veterans reading this post...



the bigreddog,

United States Army
1969-71

[BigRedDog]

There is a young man that works at the Kroger store on S. Monroe street in Monroe.  Whenever and wherever I am in that store if I am wearing something that identifies me as a veteran he will always come up to me and thank me for my service.  One day I was back for the 2nd time within an hour and he even caught me the 2nd time too

[BigRedDog]

Plenty of world events going on right now that involve our military...

Take a moment to actually think about the men and women in uniform...

the boots on the ground, in the air, on and under the sea!!! 

The politicians are in all the news with their talk...

these are the people that 'make it happen'!!!

[BigRedDog]

A tribute to every man and woman who has ever served and of course those who are serving today.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1VZNtlyEII

[Tim Heiss]

I bought breakfast before for a man who had a Korean War Veteran hat on at Denny's before. We had a real nice conversation.

It's nice to be able to show a small token of appreciation to those who have served.

[BigRedDog]

I have frequently seen references that across the county the typical population of military veterans is 5-6-7%.  I was looking up info on the area where we are here (Highlands County) and found a figure of over 15%.  At first I though that seemed a little high but then got to thinking about the number of people I see wearing veteran's hats (the typical and obvious sign) and the number of vehicles with both active military and veteran's references on their vehicle or license plate.  Maybe a little bragging here on my part but my US Army Veteran's plate is still very distinct.  I guess before we eventually purchase plates down here I'll have to make sure I can get something as distinct and personal on a Florida plate.

I'm guessing the high percentage of veterans has something to do with the high number of retirees in general living in the area...   probably there are similar numbers across the state.  And the figure I saw was for residents so that still doesn't count us 'snow birds'!!!

[BigRedDog]

I bought breakfast before for a man who had a Korean War Veteran hat on at Denny's before. We had a real nice conversation.

It's nice to be able to show a small token of appreciation to those who have served.

And a big 'thank you' for your recognition.

We had only been here a few days and I ran into a Korean War veteran and his wife.  We talked for an hour (while my wife patiently waited) and hit it off.  The stopped by here one afternoon and our daughter took some pictures for us.  A few days we went to visit them and take them copies of the pictures...   they were leaving the next day to head back to near Cincinnati. 

This really is a great 'melting pot' down here.

[BigRedDog]

Here's a pretty good article reference some of my comments above:

https://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/what-percentage-of-americans-have-served-in-the-military/

[BigRedDog]

Glad to see our legislators making progress on all of these.  A few I don't understand but most make good sense. 

Does anyone know if any of our 3 area legislators served in the military?

http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2018/01/michigan_lawmakers_are_pursuin.html#incart_river_home

My favorite:

[quote]Waiving recreation passport fee for veterans
Totally disabled veterans wouldn't need to purchase the $11 recreation passport people use to get into state parks under House Bills 4380 and 4381. Introduced by Wentworth and Rep. John Bizon, R-Battle Creek, the bills passed the House and are pending in the Senate Veterans, Military Affairs and Homeland Security Committee. 

A similar House Bill 4784, introduced by Rep. Abdullah Hammoud, D-Dearborn, would exempt all veterans from the recreation passport fee. The bill is pending in the House Military and Veterans Affairs Committee. [/quote]