I should preface this by saying that I am an American civilian.

I know that most of you guys hate the whole hero worship and the TYFYS shit. I get how it probably gets annoying. Especially for those of you who never saw combat. I just want to say this: to me, you are heroes. I understand that there are plenty of assholes in our armed forces and even they are still heroes to me. You don't have to be nice to be a hero, nor do you have to see combat. The very fact that you enlisted is, to me, a very powerful thing. By doing so you tell your government and your nation "Here is my body, here is my mind. Do with me as you will.". That takes fucking guts and don't you ever forget that. Every single one of you has bigger balls than a large chunk of America. I don't really bother with the TYFYS any more because my cousin enlisted a while back and gave me the whole talk about how mostly it just bothers you guys. However, when the opportunity presents itself, I'd happily buy most any one of you a beer. I really try not to hero worship you guys to death but I really just want to say thank you. Just this once. I wish you all the best. You are far too valuable for the way you are treated. Every single one of you has value far beyond what anyone realizes.