Bret Devereaux

It is clearly very possible for many people on the music-and-poetry side of the line to never meaningfully encounter the folks on the war-and-politics side, except perhaps for a mumbled 'thanks for your service' or a pre-game tribute. If even that!

And i think we sense generally that we aren't doing right by our veterans. I don't claim any special expertise in this. As I say in the post, I will always be on the civilian side of the 'civilians do not understand' even though I learned some of the technical language&concepts

I will say the field has brought me into contact with veterans - more than some, less than others - and if that gives me some insight, I thought I ought to share it from the civilian side of that gap. Folks want to know how to interact with veterans (and active duty personnel).

My advice comes in two parts: 1) treat military folks (vets, active service) as people. Not symbols, not opportunities to virtue signal, not as damaged things. They are humans. Interact with them the way you would with a normal person. They are normal people.

2) Talk less. Listen more. Most of the military folks I know aren't looking to be thanked at airports or get discounts at Arby's (some of them are offended by the latter, actually). What nearly every one I have talked to has expressed is a desperate desire for people to listen.

Now, don't ask. Don't volunteer them. They may not be ready to talk. My uncle served before I was born and wasn't really ready to talk until after I was in college. But he had a real need to talk and these days he'll talk to whole classrooms about his service.

Like I said, almost every veteran I've known has expressed, in some way, a deep desire to have people around them, or the general public, to understand...in the limited but very important way that we can.