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Comment by jgrahamc | Hacker News Reader

One thing you could do is actually thank a member of the armed forces in person. I have done this in the past. A few months ago I saw a uniformed RAF man standing at Green Park tube waiting for the train: I simply walked up to him and asked him he was returning from a deployment overseas. He told me that he was returning from Afghanistan and I simply said "Thank you" to him.

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One night this past summer I was driving home after midnight and I saw a very inebriated older man waiting for a streetcar. Something about his bearing struck me, so I stopped and gave him a lift home. We chatted, and he was indeed a veteran. When he tried to thank me for the lift, I told him that I owed him the debt of gratitude.

I was at the Dallas airport recently waiting for my flight to board when a large group of soldiers dressed in desert camoflauge debarked from their plane. As the walked by every single person in the terminal stood up and applauded until the last of them had left. It was great to see everyone honor the soldiers in this way.

I've considered doing this, but I've always wondered how it would be received.

Any veterans/service folks care to comment?

As both a veteran and somebody who does it, I will.

It's really tough, I won't lie to you. Walking up to a total stranger and saying something from the heart, to me at least, is very unnatural.

Usually I ask them a bit about where they are stationed, what they've been doing, whether or not they've been deployed. Just small talk. But before I leave I try to make physical contact -- patting them on the shoulder usually -- and say something like "Hey, I just wanted to say thank you. You guys are doing an awesome job."

Every time I've done it I get the weirdest reaction. At first they're totally convinced I am going to say something ugly right afterwards. Then they look confused for a couple of seconds. Then it's like the sun opens up from behind clouds: it's really, really cool. Makes you feel good the rest of the day (and I'm sure it makes their day as well)

Or go upto a physics teacher and thank them.

The reason the Russian army isn't in western europe is not due to the heroic effort of the Queen's Cavalry - it's due to the ability to knock two pieces of Plutonium together.

It's the nerds/geeks at Aldermaston/LLNL/Los Alamos/ Sarov/Zheleznogorsk that have kept the world safe for you.

I can't endorse this habit highly enough. I do it every chance I get.

You can't imagine the morale-boosting effect it has to simply have strangers come up and say "thank you?"

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