the good guys

i'm on the connection team at connection church.  basically, i call people who are newer and in the age range of 18-30.  today, i talked to a fine gentleman named Scott.  he tells me he and his wife like our church a lot.  i invite them to besideus (our young adults ministry) and he informs me that due to the fact that he is in the army, his schedule makes it difficult for him to attend church much.  i thanked him for his service (i have the highest respect for those who serve in our military).  i asked him if i could get a little personal with him and assured him that it was just a military question.  after he agreed, i asked "on returning from war, our WWII vets were thrown parades and people adored them for their bravery, commitment, and sacrifice...rightly so.  when our troops returned from Vietnam, we didn't throw any parades, we threw rocks and hurled insults...frankly disgusting.  how have you been received by the civilians since returning to the states?"  i gotta be honest.  i really and truthfully expected to hear him say that everyone has been great.  maybe some have thanked him and maybe some guys shook his hand or offered to buy him a coffee or a beer or something just to say "thank you".  i really believed that our generation would not repeat the ignorance, and i mean with complete sincerity the absolute ignorance of those in the past who treated our beloved military sons and daughters less than unwanted.  Scott begins to tell me how he was just getting home from a military funeral for a colonel who died while serving in Iraq.  he said that after the funeral, he stopped off at a meijer store to grab a few things and he said that while he was walking through the store, several people gave him dirty looks and angry glares.  need i comment further?  i mean, do i really need to say anything at all?  look, i know that a lot of americans out there would at the very least pass a man or woman in uniform and treat them the same as anyone else.  but obviously there are a handful of so called americans who feel that they are smarter than those who make the big decisions and could have done a better job themselves.  please, no matter what your stance is on this or any war at all, have the decency to treat our military servants, active or veteran, with at least the same respect you would any other human being.  for you who feel the need to display your unkind gestures to our service men and women, you can take freedom of speech and freedom of the anti war glaring stink eye and shove it.  it's called respect and some people in this country could use a lesson in what that means.  i can tell you now that i am not mr. pro war...however there is a time for war and when that time comes, we need to honor those who serve.  let's not forget who the good guys are.