Between my military time and pretty much about the time I started working for BangShift, I had two main jobs. One was my schoolwork…I spent three years at a university in Arizona getting a degree and as any successful student will tell you, if you don’t approach that work as if it’s your job, you will not succeed. But money needed to come through the door for me to not subsist on Ramen noodles and sadness, so when I wasn’t at the school I worked for a VA Vet Center. My job was pretty much “whatever”, which meant in reality that I answered phones and supervised the maintenance of the Vet Center’s trucks for them, since nobody seemed to be on top of the job at the time. The cool factor of the job that I enjoyed, however, was dealing with many generations of vets beyond the ones my age. We had Desert Storm guys, Grenada vets, Vietnam and Korea vets. Every now and then a World War II era vet would come through and those days, it seemed like we were honored with their presence. It was a great experience and I wouldn’t trade that time for anything.

The basic relationship that any military veteran, anywhere, anytime, can have with another is simple: it’s a bond born out of similar suffering under high-pressure conditions. It’s very unique and difficult to explain properly…even writers ten times better than myself struggle for the right words. The one thing that doesn’t struggle for words is the desire to help another veteran that is in need. If they need a meal, you share your food. If they need a place to sleep, you lend them the couch. If they need someone to listen, you listen. It’s as simple as that. That interaction, that doing for others, goes further than simple words can.

I dig this video for one big reason: there wasn’t any real point to having a blind guy ride along in a car that would’ve horrified someone with sight. It was done because the guy behind the wheel knew that his friend would have a riot of a time experiencing everything that this turbocharged Pontiac would have to offer. And yes, the video was meant to raise awareness for a veterans-related cause, but note the look on the guys’s face. He can’t really see what’s going on, but he knows he’s having a great time. This is “Thank you for your service” done right instead of just being lip service.

(Courtesy: CarThrottle)