OK..some were driven to the point of suicide, and should have been satisfied with a special license plate? I don't think so. Many were conscripts. Probably not considered professionals, although certainly expert in their fields. I personally have never fished for compliments, and failed so often to admit I have ever heard of a place called Vietnam (in war but stateside). That is my failure. Fishing for compliments? How about signing up for abuse, which so often I failed to do when I should have acknowledged that I was what I was. I doubt most people know I served. I can pass. People have told me thank you for your service and I greatly appreciate it. The first time I heard anyone say thank you was from a Japanese Am of WWII who had served in one of the elite units and he spoke to a group of us. Plus a beer company had a great sign at a moving wall...forget name..from Golden Colorado. Our lives have not been littered with people thanking us for our service. Quite the opposite.