Thank You for Your Service
By Addie Chabot
Thank you for your service. It’s a phrase I have said. It’s a phrase you’ve probably heard in conversation, or seen on a billboard or listened to in an ad. Most of us know, however, that it’s a phrase that means something far beyond a simple “thank you.”
You go to the bank, and the teller will say “thank you for choosing us.” I thank the doorman for holding the door open. People even give thanks sarcastically these days. The meaning can change in any given context, but the simple implication holds true through the rules of language by which we live.
The phrase, “thank you for your service,” however, will never shrink down to fit into these confined grammatical precedents. Thanking a man or woman for his or her service means one thing to you, but it likely means a multitude of things to the recipient.
To the ordinary citizen, thanking military personnel for their service can mean displaying the respect warranted by defending our country.
But to the person being thanked? It may feel undeserved or even ring hollow if their reintegration is difficult. Thanking soldiers for their service is a kind, respectful formality, but how the recipient interprets the thanks is an important piece to consider.
I was fortunate enough to attend a screening of Thank You for Your Service, a film produced by DreamWorks and being distributed by Universal Pictures, starring Miles Teller, Haley Bennett, Beulah Koale, Amy Schumer, and Scott Haze. American Sniper screenwriter Jason Hall wrote and directed the film, adapted from journalist David Finkle’s nonfiction book of the same name. Through its brutal honesty, powerful dialect, and emotional plotline, the film reveals the reality of life beyond simply living — it details the stories of soldiers and their unique, yet wildly similar experiences upon returning home from deployment in Iraq.
Adam’s story gives a glimpse into the intricacies of survivor’s guilt and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Yes, he is physically intact, but internally, he is in shambles. No better is his best friend Solo, who suffers from severe mood swings and memory loss—symptoms of a traumatic brain injury sustained from the blasts of multiple improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The film takes viewers on a journey with these two young men as they seek care. We watch as they combat their internal selves as the new enemies. Before, the enemy was a stranger and the goal was defeat. But with one’s self as the enemy, what is the goal? It can’t be defeat, so what will it be? What will the end look like?
Every day in the United States, 20 veterans commit suicide. The reasons for this statistic are extensive, but there is no doubt that PTSD is a contributor. As the veteran space and military community seek to lessen the stigma surrounding mental health, it is films such as this one that get us closer to a more open, honest conversation about the reality of this struggle.
Thank You for Your Service is a raw, authentic representation of the reality thousands of veterans face upon returning home. Through the eyes of Adam Schumann, we get to see the highest of the highs, the lowest of the lows, and the ugliest of the ugly.
As a rather new member of the veteran space, I found this film eye opening. At college, I’ve learned about PTSD from a psychological and neurological standpoint, reading in textbooks and listening to professors. But I, myself, have never been in such close contact with it. This film gets you as close as it possibly can to seeing through the eyes of a veteran with PTSD. You feel their pain, sense their distress and begin to appreciate the gravity of it all.
I will never know what it’s like to physically be inside of Adam or Solo’s head, but Thank You for Your Service brought me as close to it as possible, offering new levels of understanding, but more importantly, a sense of urgency to help, to act, and to change that statistic.
Addie Chabot is a psychology major at Dartmouth College, who interned with the Bob Woodruff Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to ensuring that post-9/11 injured veterans, service members and their families are thriving long after they return home.
Learn more about PTSD, TBI and related resources at Brainline, a site supported by grants from the Bob Woodruff Foundation.
Our partners PsychArmor Institute offer free, online training and support for all Americans to engage effectively with the military community.
