Remembering military service in any form, whether by statue or memorial service or song or national day of remembrance, is fairly universal (as evidenced from every other country I've visited or experienced in some other way).
However, there can also be a positive cultural exchange that occurs with overseas military deployment that often gets overlooked. In our zeal to try to get veterans to talk about the horrors of war (which many are reticent to spill for a variety of reasons), I expect there are service members who would enjoy speaking of the positive interactions that occurred; the mirror image is also true - many in occupied countries (especially during and immediately after WWII) want to speak not of the horrors of war, but of the happiness at seeing American food and supplies, and the positive interactions with those from friendly countries. As the nature of and mission for war changes and becomes more blurred, the likelihood that those serving will interact with locals in foreign settings in a more routine and non-combat-like manner increases.
As a result, I thought a nod to our universal humanity as a way of honoring veterans' service might be appropriate. I provide you with a snapshot of some of the postcards I've received (as a result of my Postcrossing participation) from a whole host of nations: China, Japan, Germany, Russia, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands. I've managed to create a little piece of art with my favorites (thanks to a painting canvas and some corkboard pins). Let our positive interactions with those of different cultures hopefully diminish the need for service.
I've recently received the following two postcards:
This, from a German doctor, highlights both the words of Henning Sabo and the calligraphy art of Katharina Pieper. The verse:
Midst light I am
And light is all I see
I am a stream of light
No shadows
Anywhere
For everything is: light
And light is:
Everywhere.
The second is from an 11 year-old from Poland, and highlights the Palac W Antoninie:
I know very little of the architecture from the Polish monarchy, so this building sent me on a quick Google search (it's purportedly neoclassical). While it seems to now be a hotel, it was part of a string of castles that housed the Polish monarchy; these castles now seem to be the Polish president's residence.
Oh the places we'll go and the things we'll learn.
I have a good friend who has lived in Europe for quite a while. For a time when our friendship was growing, he traveled quite a bit, and managed to send me fun postcards from Europe and Central America. I always looked forward to these faraway missives: the smallest handwriting possible in order to convey lots of information as well as evocative art of some sort on the cover. I haven't received a postcard from him in quite a while, and I must admit I miss receiving them.
Well, no fear on the postcard front - there's a group one can join where people all over the world exchange postcards. Postcrossing was the brainchild of this guy now living in Berlin and has grown to include over a quarter million members worldwide. It's a pretty simple concept: receive random, worldwide addresses, send each person a postcard and receive postcards from other random people from everywhere in the world. Pretty cool, huh?
So, I've sent several postcards, and the image to the left is from the first card I've received. The artwork is from Charlotte Mutsaers, a Dutch artist.
I must admit, I do love my first postcard ... almost as much as one from my friend.
Maybe he'll read this and take the hint.
However, there can also be a positive cultural exchange that occurs with overseas military deployment that often gets overlooked. In our zeal to try to get veterans to talk about the horrors of war (which many are reticent to spill for a variety of reasons), I expect there are service members who would enjoy speaking of the positive interactions that occurred; the mirror image is also true - many in occupied countries (especially during and immediately after WWII) want to speak not of the horrors of war, but of the happiness at seeing American food and supplies, and the positive interactions with those from friendly countries. As the nature of and mission for war changes and becomes more blurred, the likelihood that those serving will interact with locals in foreign settings in a more routine and non-combat-like manner increases. 
