As the euphoria of the celebration of our 239th July 4 fades I, a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Marine

Corps, ask each of my fellow veterans, to recognize the dedication, valor, honor and integrity of your

fellow citizens we routinely refer to as civilians. Without them our children wouldn’t have access to

education, our spouses wouldn’t enjoy the same freedoms we do, and we wouldn’t have a home to

return to. Take this occasion when we gather as a citizenship to reflect on the founding of our great

democracy, to shine a spotlight on the intricate web of independently acting, cooperative and

mutually supporting individuals, acting toward the greater good of all and give a simple thank you to

someone for being a good neighbor or express your gratitude for the peace-of-mind it brought you to

knowing your family was safe and well cared for during your military service.

All too often we are reminded of the hardships of our veterans while the trials and tribulations of

everyday citizens go unnoticed. While there are less than a million veterans living with PTSD there

are over 22 million civilians dealing with circumstances that caused their PTSD. As a military service

member we are trained, organized and equipped as part of a team to enter into the circumstances

that can cause PTSD; which is why the rate of PTSD among combat veterans is estimated at about

20 percent. The opposite is often true of civilians. The circumstances that cause their PTSD are

often perpetrated by people they expect to trust unequivocally, which is why 75 percent of those

situations result in PTSD. Why is it that the trials and tribulations of either part of the population get

so much attention anyway? It is our diversity and the simple day-to-day cooperation, team work and

selflessness that make both the military, civilian sector and our nation great?

Any combat arms Marine worth his salt knows that a movement to contact can’t happen without the

order coming down administratively from higher, based on information from S-2, with support from

motor-T or chow from the mess hall, and let’s not forget the Corpsmen, our precious Internet and

direct deposit. It only takes a little reflection to expand that concept and the light bulb begins to shine

on the reality that without civilians there would be no way to support a military let alone send it to a

foreign land.

So the next time you are out in town and enjoying all the things that make life in these United States

so frickin’ awesome and worth fighting for, stop and thank the bank teller, the person out fixing the

power outage at 2 a.m. in the snow, the editor at your local newspaper, or the person that makes

sure you have clean water to drink (just to name a few). The next time you look at a civilian and think

WTF, remember veterans don’t hold the patent on PTSD. Our wonderful democracy, no matter how

frustrating it can be, is still the best one out there. Semper Fidelis.