I think this is a very interesting CMV and has brought about a lot of interesting conversations. Thank you for posting this.

I'm curious about your point that all of the recent wars/events were bad and made you less safe. I'll focus on that line of thinking specifically. It brings a story to mind.

So I had a buddy who decided to join a long time ago and he went into the more "technical/strategic" side of the military. He was incredibly smart, and I was actually surprised he decided to join. Later in his career, we sometimes had incredibly interesting discussions about the military and the U.S. in general. I could never ask him too much about the specifics of his job, however one day When I asked him a question about our involvement in other countries, as I was very skeptical and curious on his view. His response burned into my memory and changed my view. The is what he told me.

"The world is a very scary place. A lot scarier than you will ever know if you never go out and find out for yourself. There's a lot of things going on that the public doesnt know about. Very close calls were countless of innocent lives could have been lost (wasn't allowed to specify what country or amount). They will never know, But that's ok because a lot of people just want to live their peaceful lives with their families."

So I guess it sorta brings me to my point that there is a lot of information that you or I will never know about unless you see for yourself what it's like. I think it's pretty easy to feel like they in general have done harm and don't deserve respect based on the information given to you about some past actions the military has done (bombings, etc). It just seems to me there is always more to the picture, and a lot of actions that the military has done for the sake of protecting us we wont ever know about.

Then as a blanket statement In general about the military they suffered more than the average civilian, seen more awful things, some had to make some really hard decisions that we couldn't even fathom or have the strength to decide because both ways will cost lives. All for the sake of the country and keeping it as free and safe as they can. That I think makes the profession in general worth honoring.