Veterans
Last year I wrote this post: http://soandsosaid.wordpress.com/2010/11/04/dad/. No need to read it, the gist is that there is this great website http://www.rangerup.com that makes some cool t-shirts. I bought one of their “Veteran” t-shirts last year for me and one for my Dad. My Dad is typically a pretty reserved guy and I was stunned by his enthusiastic appreciation for the t-shirt and the fact that he told me he was planning on wearing it to work last Veterans’ Day. He’s typically not the type to draw attention to himself but over the last couple of years he’s started to open up more about his military experiences and has shown more pride about his service.
With that in mind I went to my boss last month and asked if he’d mind if I bought some of those shirts for my coworkers who have military experience on their resume. There’s a group of them who served during the cold war, never got deployed into a combat theater of operations and never really got thanked for their service. He thought it was a great idea, and told me to talk to the HR people. He wanted the company to buy the shirts for all honorably discharged veterans. I talked to HR, and while they thought it was a good idea, disclosure of military service is voluntary, not mandatory and so it’s something that hasn’t been tracked well. Instead the CEO is going to issue a “thank you” email to the company on the 11th, but I was given permission to go ahead and buy the shirts for the original group and for them to wear them (the shirts fall in a gray area of the company dress code policy).
The t-shirts showed up last Thursday and I’ve been handing them out Friday and today. Definitely a gratifying experience. Even though these guys weren’t called upon, they still had their bags packed and were ready to go, at a moment’s notice, into harm’s way. That alone deserves some recognition. Still time to buy some shirts for the Veterans in your life! I know Megan did it last year.
This is the shirt I bought these guys: http://www.rangerup.com/freedom.html
But this is a new cool one for GWOT vets: http://www.rangerup.com/the45.html
Take a moment to read the narratives. The shirt isn’t necessary, but please remember to take a moment to thank those guys!
October 31, 2011 at 8:45 pm
Thank you, as always, for your service
You are an amazing solider and the Army is so lucky to have you – as is the rest of this gloriously, generally ungrateful country.
Did I ever tell you that when Tim was in Iraq I had a shirt with a red and blue star and it said “Sexually Deprived for Your Freedom” on it?
Cause I did. And it ruled.
November 2, 2011 at 2:33 am
I ordered the first shirt last year for a few people. They were a huge hit.
Thank you for your service and your insight.
November 16, 2011 at 9:10 pm
Megan, I remembered, part of why I did it this year. Thanks so much!