If you have never drank at a small town bar, put it in your travel plans. I don't mean small town like Hamilton or Lincoln. I mean small towns that don't even have a stop light. Small towns where the bar is both the post office and the grocery store. Those are the bars where you find yourself buying a round for your fellow patrons. As a sign of respect, you buy a round for the thirsty farmer, the tired hunter and the old veteran. They, in turn, buy you a round. Stories will get shared and a few laughs. But, it always comes down to showing respect.

Montana is home to so many veterans. Montana has many active duty vets as well. We respect our military service men and women. Just recently 13 members of the armed forces died while evacuating people from Kabul, Afghanistan. Over the weekend, I began noticing pictures of reserved tables with 13 beers lined out. Some of the pictures didn't have captions, so I didn't quite know what it meant. Soon I noticed more and more pictures surface of even more reserved tables with 13 beers and empty seats. It finally clicked. Bars and patrons from all over Montana were paying their respects to the fallen soldiers buy buying them a round of beers.

Many of these rounds of beer were bought multiple times, with bar owners pledging to donate profits to multiple fallen soldier charities.

In the end, it all comes down to RESPECT. People all over Montana raising a glass to our fallen soldiers.

LOOK: 100 years of American military history

KEEP READING: Scroll to see what the big headlines were the year you were born

 

 

 

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