When the average person thinks about the men and women in service for the U.S. military branches, they think of the soldiers currently serving, and the ones whose names have long since passed into the past. The names that are often forgotten are those who are still around us, the former soldiers around our community who have finished their work for the military, and come back to the civilian life that most Americans experience.

“I served for twenty-two years, two months, and two days.” said Mike Lennon, social studies teacher. “It’s just a coincidence how that worked out.” Lennon represents one of the many veterans who lives in Stillwater today, and like many other veterans, his service in the military has given him a strong respect for the other men and women who currently are serving, as well as the past members of the military.

Regarding his opinion on days such as Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day, Lennon said, “They’re very much extra special, especially Veteran’s Day. Veteran’s Day is important enough to me that I do a special Veteran’s day lesson.”

While these days of remembrance and honor for the people who have served our country are seen as sacred days by our veterans, not all of our veterans see the days being celebrated correctly. “You might think that someone would say they mean more,” said English teacher Corey Quick, “But in a lot of ways they make me question what we do with those days. When I see some stores having a Veteran’s Day sale, I think, ‘Well, why are you using veterans, the idea of veterans, to sell a product?'”

In recent years, Veteran’s Day has received criticism among holidays such as Christmas and Thanksgiving for becoming too commercialized, with corporations ignoring the ideals of a holiday in order to make a quick cash-in on what should be a holy day for a certain group. Veteran’s Day receives more harsh criticism than others about this, simply because while not every United States citizen celebrates Christmas or Easter, everyone can show their respect for the soldiers of our country.

The veterans have all had different experiences regarding returning to a civilian life as well. For Quick, the transition was easy. “I was in the National Guard, so when you’re in the National Guard, you’re doing both. I was working my regular civilian jobs.” Quick said.

His experience mirrors that of Rick Heidick, another local veteran from Stillwater. ” It wasn’t too hard to adjust,” said Heidick. “I returned to the states in August and moved from Iowa to Minneapolis in January 1976 to go to school on the GI Bill, filling in the gap with odd jobs.”

On the other hand, for people like Lennon, the transition was more difficult. “It was challenging,” said Lennon. ” After spending twenty-two years living a certain way, adjusting to living a different way is challenging to start with. Finding a second career opportunity that would be of interest to me took about a year.”

Regardless of how easy or difficult for our heroes to adjust back to the life that we have always known, today, many of them have to some extent. The main job of civilians now is to honor them, not just on the days designated by the government, but every day of the life that we as citizens live.