The "Thank you for your service" we now say to veterans is starting to sound like the "God bless you" we say after you sneeze.

And with Veterans Day coming up, consider changing the flow a little, particularly with the newer veterans of our most recent, confused wars.

When the newly returned warrior says he/she is a veteran, apologize.

Tell him/her you're sorry about that WMD lie. Tell him you're sorry about the food stamp cuts.

Tell her you're sorry there are no union jobs left in the county. Tell him you're sorry that so much of the work out there is part-time.

Tell him you're sorry the steel mill in his hometown closed 15 years ago. Tell her you're sorry the auto plant is gone.

Tell him you're sorry all the small farms in the county went under. Tell her you're sorry there's heroin in her neighborhood, just like there was before she left.

Tell him you're sorry that, if he can't find a job, he may, some night, stand cold and hungry and homeless in front of a bank that has just finished its most profitable decade.

Tell her you're sorry the politicians won't stop talking about prayer in the schools and the threat of Sharia law in Montana.

Tell him you're sorry there are more jail cells in the state than there are beds for people trying to kick Oxy.

Tell her you're sorry that, despite the uniform hanging in her closet, if she can't find a job and has to take welfare, to some people, she's just trash.

Tell him you're sorry that if he gets a job and it doesn't pay enough to feed his kids, his EBT card means he's a "taker" not a "maker."

Tell her you're sorry because, if her first name is "Shamika," some white people will laugh at her. Tell him if his last name is "Rivera," some non-Hispanic people will think he's in America illegally. Tell him you're sorry those same people didn't give a damn how he got into Fallujah or if he ever got out.

Tell her you're sorry the last business to open in her neighborhood was a payday loan place. Tell him you're sorry his mother got laid off while he was gone.

Tell her you're sorry her brother overdosed. Tell him you're sorry his uncle got shot.

Tell him you're sorry the dropout rate at his old high school is the same as it was before he left. Tell her you're sorry the unemployment rate in her city is the same as before she left.

Tell him you're sorry we spent his blood like a drunk throwing a $5 bill on a bar. Tell her you're sorry we thought calling her "hero" while she was over there was enough.

Tell them you're sorry we didn't think about it more, didn't love their lives a little more, tell them you're sorry we thought the American flag on the front porch was enough.

We had years to make build a better nation while they were gone and, instead, we argued about what Jesus would have wanted fifth graders to study in science class.

Tell 'em you're sorry.

To find out more about Marc Munroe Dion and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit www.creators.com. Dion's book of Pulitzer Prize-nominated column, "Between Wealth and Welfare: A Liberal Curmudgeon in America," is available for Nook and Kindle.