Editor’s Note: The following blog post was published in response to a comment that was posted on the story: “In Focus: What is the best way to honor the military?”, which was published Friday. The original story and comment can be read here.

Reader:

Let me first apologize if I was not sufficiently clear in my response to the In Focus, I only have 100 words. In using the term ‘free’ I did not mean to imply that our service members did not deserve or earn the benefits they receive. I was just stating the benefits those in military service currently earn, for I have no other suggestions on how to honor them, other than a parade. I feel that service members have earned a parade, but then thought of the rational on why such parades are not being held: it is not the end of the war. Let me make this also clear, it is not my parade that is being rained on, it is foremost our service members’ parade, followed then by our nation’s parade.

Insofar as service members are given preference for jobs, it is due to the skill sets that you mentioned, learned in the military, that they are preferred job candidates. Again, please excuse my brevity, I did not realize I had to spell everything out.

I am glad to see you have read some of my columns and recognize my “jaded” view of war. I am not going to deny the fact that I believe in nonviolence and a political system that can operate on much fewer military conflicts. Do not get my views of war confused with my appreciation to the service members that–unfortunately–must fight. I have friends and family members who have served and are currently serving. I have lost friends who have given their life to the job they were sent to do. It is in these losses that I have developed a sense of value for their lives, and that sense of value is what drives my belief that their life is worth more than some of the missions they dutifully undertook.