I was on the highway one afternoon and I must have seen 100 SUPPORT THE TROOPS bumper stickers between Houston and El Campo, Texas.  I even commented to my wife (Patti) my doubt about the sincerity of those sporting such a sticker.  After all, I told her, words without commitment are nothing more than lip service.  It made me think back to the night in the Atlanta airport in 1971 when I first experienced the feeling of being unsupported.

I was on the way home for Christmas leave from Fort Jackson, S.C. and I was in line at Delta’s luggage check-in.  I was talking to a Marine Captain in line behind me when the pretty girl in line in front of us asked the man at the desk if she could have a seat that was not next to someone in the military.  I was stunned.  I stared at her in disbelief as she walked past me on the way to board the plane.  To this day I still remember her hateful words as she walked past me to board the plane.

Growing up in El Campo, Texas, a small “very conservative” town in South Texas had insulated me from the war protests and anti-military sentiment that were so prevalent in the rest of the country in the late '60s and the early '70s. The Marine told me to not feel so bad because I was getting off the plane in Houston.  He was flying on to San Francisco where they will not only avoid sitting next to you but will not want to be on the same plane as a Marine.

That night in 1971 I made a promise to myself to do all I could to see that a member of the military never again be treated in such a way as we were.  I was never spat upon in airports as returning Vietnam veterans were but all of us in uniform (My Team) were ostracized in one way or another in those days.  I served in the United States Army and the Texas National Guard from 1971 through 1979.