Maybe I’m in the minority here, but I see, in this post-draft world, going in the military as a career choice. My uncle was in Korea, my father Vietnam, and two cousins in the navy twenty years apart from each other. My godson just left for an 8-year service.
And while this is an admirable choice of career, I don’t feel it is any more deserving of appreciation than one who chooses to be an EMT, or school teacher, or social worker.
Are they thanked for their service also? Not in my experience, and certainly not in the cloying, PC, pseudo-patriotic way some people speak of the military.
Conversely, there are people who vilify service people as they would police officers.
In my opinion, the choice of career means nothing independent of the character of the individual. Canonizing someone for that choice is equally as useless as vilifying them.
I say, keep your “thank yous” to yourself. If you really have an interest in supporting any of these careers, do so with your time and your money and your letters to state and local government and with your votes.