(With respect to the attitude of the populace toward the military.)
Quite true. I’ve seen the gamut from being spat upon and called a baby killer when I returned from Vietnam to being thanked profusely by strangers after 9/11.
You are correct. The populace in general thinks little about the military except screaming about the budget. Until, that is, they get a visceral gut punch and become afraid.
The alphabet people, who despise the military, fail to realize that only 1 person out of 250 is all that is preventing them from being defenestrated by the same Palestinians they are rioting to support. They.also keep feminists and other women from being put back into servitude and wrapped in full coverage burka. Ladies, want your voting rights, driving rights and any other rights ripped away? Do away with our military.
Only 4 people out of a thousand serve on active duty. One in 250. There are only some 6 out of a thousand who are veterans. Being a Spartan is a tough and lonely life. You live fast and die younger than civilians, on average. Those who actually serve in combat are an even smaller percentage. We have seen and done unspeakable things to protect The People in general. Some of us have fought and killed hand-to-hand. We are loaded with PTSD and commit suicide or self-medicate at several times the rate of civilians.
So get off our backs. We have enough baggage to carry as it is.
There has been a sea change since I was single digits young. Back then when the memory of WWII was fresh, everyone’s Father had been in the military.
I was in the Marines for a single enlistment but wasn’t a combat vet, a situation that was perfectly okay to me at the time.