Dear Veteran,

I wanted to start this letter out by properly thanking you for your service. Your service has positively impacted so many people. You have sacrificed to keep others safe. You have let them live life without constantly fearing for their safety. You fought for your country and the people inside it. You have fought for me and those like me. I can easily say that those you fought for are forever grateful, even if we struggle to figure out what we want to say.  

My name is Joanna. I am 16 years old and a junior in high school. I plan to go to college in order to study criminology. My goal has always been to be able to help others and I plan to go into detective work in order to do my best to follow in your footsteps of doing what I can to help the helpless.

From what I have witnessed, veterans’ service and sacrifice seem to get overlooked. Most people, instead of finding the words to state how much veterans are appreciated, tend to settle with the phrase “thank you for your service”. The words can be hard to find, because appreciation goes deeper than words can say, so people use this phrase to explain what they cannot. Thank you, they say, for serving this country, for serving us, for offering up your safety to secure the safety of others. Thank you, they say, thank you for having the courage to do what most people could not.And so, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. Thank you for allowing me to live the life I lead. Thank you for keeping my country safe and giving me a childhood. Thank you for your service.

In my eyes, veterans will always be heroes. Someone who sacrifices nearly everything to protect others, someone that selfless, can never be anything less of a hero.  And as heroes are in fantasy worlds and as they should be in this one, I offer you my utmost respect for what you have done in order to serve this country. I cannot thank you enough.

So, once again, thank you, and welcome home.