Mark, first, thank you for you service. Next, although I disagree with your position, I understand your perspective. But veteran plates are not an entitlement because the person MUST do two things to be able to display those plates. First, the person MUST have served in the military and second, the individual veteran pays for the veteran plates. If the public was forced to pay for the veteran’s plate or the fee was waved, then your point would be somewhat valid. But buying and displaying veteran plates is not an entitlement. Those that want veteran plates earned that benefit and should exercise their right to display those plates if they so desire.
I perceive some loathing for the military in your words. Again, I shared that feeling for many years after I retired. The military and I were not on the best of terms when I retired as I tried to retire with 20 years in and they forced me to stay on active duty for two additional years. So there was some bitterness as I lost a hell of a good job. But I grew out of it and am now proud to have served. I hope that, sometime in the future, your heart softens as mine did. It took over a decade, but I grew out of it. Good luck on this one.
Also, there is an important difference between entitlements and benefits. You earned your retirement pay. It was in the contract you and the government signed. You spent your time serving the nation and therefore, you earned your benefit. If you did nothing and received monetary compensation for doing nothing, that would be an entitlement. That is call welfare and those that are addicted to such welfare are called welfare slaves. You are not a welfare slave as you earned your benefit.
With all that said, there is no reason to disparage lower enlisted members. They are very important to accomplishing the overall military missions. Lower enlisted men and women did the things that made military life more tolerable. If one never served as a lower-grade enlisted, one has no idea of what they do and how little they are compensated for their toils. Having served as an E-1 to E-7 then CWO3 to O-3, I have a pretty good handle on who did what in the military and, were it not for the lowly enlisted guys, officers would have had to get their hands dirty… and we couldn’t have that.
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