Veterans Remember the Past and Thank the Present Military

Veterans Day has grown into a proud celebration of those who serve this country. In Texas alone, there  are 1.7 million veterans.

However, the opinions towards these veterans haven’t always been positive pats on the back and recognition of service.

“Year to year it will change, Texas is more supportive, New York City is different than Los Angeles, and in Europe it’s a different deal entirely,” said Chris Myers, who spent 23 years in the Air Force.

Myers explained that respect for veterans has fluctuated over the years: “they were just starting to treat veterans when I enlisted,” he said, “post-Vietnam problems were resolved.”

According to Myers the Reagan years were good for the military, with opinion falling a bit during the Clinton years, and doing well when the War on Terror began.

Now Myers has noticed a divide occurring in America over the opinion of soldiers.

“Obama’s managed to split the population radically,” said Myers, “You’ve got two radical groups: one that dismisses the military completely and one side that’s adamant in their support of the military.”

Eve Hogue, who spent 26 years in the Air Force, had a little bit of a different experience when she joined. “When I first joined in ‘78 when I was stationed in California, someone spit on my car once while I was in uniform,” Eve explained.

She describes the first occupation she had in the Air Force, as Service Technician “I was the first woman and not really prepared for opposition,” she says. The late ‘70s were not kind to women in the military, and “If a male trainee didn’t know anything about the tool, they were dumb,” Hogue said, “if a female didn’t know, it was because she was female.”

According to Eve and her husband Roger Hogue, the attitude towards veterans has changed.

“It changed in the ‘80s. Things leveled off as far as opinions go, the United States ‘got over’ Vietnam,” said Roger, “respect for vets has grown exponentially since the war on terrorism began.”

This opinion differs slightly from Myers’, which says sentiment is constantly changing. He attributes a part of this to the changing unemployment rates and states of the economy.

“All those folks you see out there in uniform make more than those folks in San Angelo,” Myers explained, who expanded his definition to anywhere, “they make good money.” According to Myers, this drives a little bit of jealousy, and on occasion breeds resentment.

The Hogues are in agreement that many do not approve of the high salaries. ”When I hear people complaining about the salary… I think they deserve it with their sacrifices,” said Hogue on the matter, and continued to describe hardships that the military faces especially in terms of family.

Military personnel have to spend a lot of time away from home in deployments, boot camps and additional training, and that takes a large toll the average civilian doesn’t experience.

“The wives and husbands that stay behind, when their husbands and wives deploy to Afghanistan multiple times,” says Roger, “there’s the stuff they have to deal with when they get home, the separation, who is this little boy or girl, they ask ‘who is this man.’”

In the Hogues’ opinion, the military personnel deserve all the thanks they get. Both the Hogues and Meyers agree that San Angelo is a military-friendly place that is very good to veterans.

“It’s friendly to everyone,” said Myers, “not just to the military, but it is also friendly to them.”

He described a time he and his wife lost a wheel on their car and 12 people stopped to help them, “it wasn’t even a busy intersection,” he said.

The friendly nature of the town prompted Myers to retire in San Angelo, where he and his wife currently reside. Similarly, the Hogues evacuated from New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and came to San Angelo, where they fell in love with the community. “We’ve been here ever since,” said Eve happily.

Neither the Hogues nor Myers have special plans for Veterans Day; in Roger’s opinion, every day should be a day to remember and commend the soldiers.

“Every time I see someone who’s served, when we’re in a restaurant, I make sure to thank them for their sacrifice,” says Roger, “they don’t get the thanks they deserve.”

San Angelo will be expressing its appreciation on Monday, with numerous activities throughout the town. Take a look at our events page for more information.