Going to a high school in the heart of Appalachia, there are generally three choices of what you can do when you graduate.

1. Do what your parents do, whether that be get a job in a factory, go to the coal mines, or trade school.

2.Go to a four year college or university and continue your education.

3.Go to the Military.

Now, this is not going to be an article in which I bash one choice over another or anything such as that. This is an appreciation post for all of my Military friends and family who have gone on and served our country. I love them very dearly and am scared for them every day of my life. EVERY DAY OF MY LIFE. And I KNOW, so many more people are also.

I have a large background in the Military as a good majority of my friends and family have been or are in the Military right now, spanning across all the branches from Army, to Navy, Air Force, Marines, National Guard, and Coast Guard. I am a 2^ndgeneration “Military Brat”, if that even is such a thing, meaning, my grandfather was a Master Sergeant in the Air Force. Some of my aunts and uncles were in the service as well. I participated in the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) while I was in high school and was even voted as one of the most likely to join the Military for my senior superlatives, along with another class mate who actually did join the Military. As you can probably tell, especially if you know me, I did not join the Military even though I had full intentions to do so. I was going to join the Air Guard and go to school simultaneously. That however did not work out, as I like food too much.

For my friends who did join, well, they are some of my best friends. They know who they are, and they know that I worry about them every day. I pray every day that they return home safe when they leave. Sometimes they can’t even tell me where they are going, and it worries me. I can’t even imagine what it would be like if I were a Military Spouse. I would go absolutely crazy knowing that my significant other was out there fighting God knows what and who, doing God knows what; And not being able to talk to them every day and find those things out would kill me. Anytime I hear a ping on my phone and I see that it is one of my friends, I breathe a sigh of relief knowing that they are alright and not in the hospital suffering from brain damage. I pray that they don’t get deployed and come back with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which is a horrible problem among American Veterans and I praise God every time that they come home safely. While the healthcare for Veterans is horrible in the United States; that is another article topic in itself.

The bottom line is that these people are to be cherished. They are putting their lives on the lines for themselves, us, and their country that we all call home; they should not be looked down upon, or seen as wasting their lives away because they chose a different path than college or their family’s choice path. YOU. ARE. VALUABLE. I know that if they had stayed home, where I wasn’t worrying 24/7 about them, I would be perfectly fine with that. But because I love them and respect them, I will support them and everyone else in the Military until and if there comes a day when there is no longer one. They need a support team, they need people showing them that they have someone and something to come back to. We, as a population of young millennials need to support our Veterans and active Military members because if we don't, who will?