Show Those Veterans Some Gratitude

It’s Veteran’s Day and everybody is finding their own way to honor the men and women who have and are currently serving in the armed forces. This morning, Bon Jovi performed at Rockefeller Center in NYC and invited all local military personnel, their families and civilian volunteers to come be a part of the festivities.

While we aren’t all Bon Jovi and can’t show our support through a rock concert (unless they want to watch me play RockBand), there are plenty of things we can do to show our appreciation for the troops.

1. Have a veteran in your family? Call or sit down with them and ask them about their service. Chances are they’ll have a lot of stories to share, and your interest in their life is probably the greatest gift you could give them on this day.

And then take them for a meal at Applebee’s. Veterans and active duty military eat free today! I’m sure if you ask nicely they will share their Triple Chocolate Meltdown with you.

2. Move past your usual gray shirt/black sweatpants class uniform and get a little more patriotic today. Don a little red, sport a little blue or, if you’re feeling especially grateful to our men in uniform, pick up something that shows some real American pride.

3. Pop some kettle corn and settle in for a hottie veteran movie marathon. Pearl Harbor, Jarhead, Stop-Loss…. the possibilities are endless. And maybe you can finally answer the age old question: Ben Affleck or Josh Hartnett? It’s tough, I know.

4. Send a care package to troops on duty. In high school, I went through a program and “adopted” a soldier. I would send him letters and packages from time to time and I may have pretended he was my boyfriend for awhile. Totally normal. Sadly, my duties as pen pal have since fallen by the wayside, but today I think I might rekindle our romance friendship and show my appreciation via shaving cream and beef jerky.

5. Before you chug that beer at Dollar Pitcher Night take a moment, reflect and pour one out to honor our American heroes.

Big or small, do something to honor the men and women who risk their lives preserving our safety, our land and our freedom. Veterans, we salute you!