Today isn't September 11 or Veteran's Day. Today isn't National Military Appreciation Month. It's not July 4 or Memorial Day. It's a regular day, and I want to say thank you.

You're part of an ongoing history, a saga of service and courage, of selfless bravery for those you have never met. Thank you. Thank you for putting your lives on the line every day so that I can live my life freely and how I so choose.

Thank you for giving up your hope for a mundane, easy, ordinary life so that others can have that.

You give so much and receive so little, and for that, I am so sorry.

I didn't understand until I watched my friends exchange their college lives for military ones. I didn't understand the commitment, the frustration, the intensity, and the courage.

To our military men and women, you are saving the world one life at a time. You are truly angels and deserve every commendation and award we could ever offer, and I'm sorry you won't get that. I'm sorry that we here in the states sometimes forget how important you are.

For you are the entity that holds the nation together, the entity that keeps this nation safe, the entity that saves our families and selves from chaos and destruction.

Your husbands and wives, your families and children, they are heroes for sharing you with us, and you are heroes for giving yourselves to service.

Thank you for defending us, for defending me. Thank you for your selflessness and for your hearts, and I hope that today, you do not feel forgotten.

I hope you realize how incredible you are, how essential you are, and how loved you are.

Thank you for your bravery and your service.

Respectfully,

A college student