Do you feel that it can be overwhelming to be asked to speak to organizations about your military service or to recieve honors from them?

I think you should keep on doing it. You should know by now how clueless the average American is on military service. They need to be educated. You could inspire the next Medal of Honor reieipient to enlist. Ultimately, it is up to you though, if your getting bored and don't think your going to do a good job anymore than OK, step back and find something else. Don't quit because you think you don't deserve it or some other Veteran might get upset........that's not a good reason.

Another thing to think about, my great uncle was asked to speak about his experiences in World War II and some of his speeches and interviews form the bulk of what we younger descendants have left after he passed away from complications due to his treatment in WWII. So you should also do it for future generations as well.

Well it definitely can be overwhelming, and I can understand why you would feel hollow doing it. Most of us are raised in the military with a selfless type of attitude. We either look at it like we're just doing our jobs or we think there's probably someone more deserving of the honor. None of us typically think of ourselves as heroes.

But from the outside looking in, most of us accomplish things that civilians couldn't even imagine. So while we might look at it like just another day, they see it as something worthy of praise or respect.

There are a couple ways you can approach this. You can continue speaking. Maybe you end up inspiring someone else to join. Maybe you build up enough renown and go into politics. Maybe there are charities or causes that you can improve with your reputation. Anything is possible.

You can respectfully decline. I completely understand. Some people want to close a chapter of their lives for good instead of reliving it over and over and over again. Maybe you have a family. Maybe you want to focus on them. Maybe you're starting your own business and want to devote your energy into that.

Or maybe you find a middle ground where you find someone you think is more deserving of that honor. Maybe you have a veteran buddy who has a better story to tell or maybe is a better speaker or maybe you just want to spread the praise around. Maybe instead of just closing the window of opportunity completely, you use that window to bring other warriors into the limelight.

You are transitioning back to who you are, versus what you had to be. It happens over time. My wife bought me a big plaque years ago that read "The older I get, the better I was". She hung it up next to the TV so I didn't forget. Every Soldier wants to be Audie Murphy, but good guy Audie wouldn't allow himself to transition back from tough hero Audie. Don't be Audie. After deployments over the years, I was invited to speak at a few schools. Although obviously interested, neither the kids, nor the teachers, nor the administrators understood a word of my language. I finally realized that you can't teach experience. I stopped. Now you know why old veterans don't have much to say in public.