Modern Day Spartans

Modern Day Spartans
By Ralph A. Sarabia

Combat Veteran Clinical Therapist & Entrepreneur Walking through crowded streets of Los Angeles, sometimes I catch myself scanning rooftops, checking corners, looking for exits. In these moments, I remember - we're different. Not better, just different. We're the modern-day Spartans, a brotherhood that makes up just 0.765% of America's 330 million people.

The Sacred few Let me paint you a picture. In your average shopping mall, packed with hundreds of people, you might be the only one who knows the weight of a combat load, the sound of incoming fire, or the brotherhood forged in battle. That's not just a number - that's reality. While 99% of civilians benefit from your service, they'll never truly understand what that service means.

The Truth About Being Rare
When we talk about 0.765% of Americans having combat experience, we're talking about something more sacred than statistics. Think about it - you are part of the less than 1% of the population. That's fewer than Olympic athletes, NASA astronauts, or Fortune 500 CEOs combined. The Weight We Carry that disconnect you feel in civilian conversations? That moment when someone says, "I know exactly what you mean" and you think "No, you really don't"? That's normal. How could they understand? They haven't walked our path. Beyond Understanding
We carry experiences that most Americans will only see in movies:

• The weight of decisions that can't be unmade.
• The brotherhood that runs deeper than blood
• Moments that words can't properly describe.

The Warrior's Truth

Here’s what I tell my veterans in therapy: feeling disconnected doesn't make you broken - it makes you rare. That hypervigilance? It's not weakness - it's a skill that kept you and your brothers alive. Those memories that seem impossible to share. They're sacred, not burdens. Standing Together You might feel alone in that crowded mall, airport, or family gathering. But remember - across this nation, there's a brotherhood of warriors who understand.

We might be few, but we're mighty.

Like the Spartans of old, our strength isn't in our numbers - it's in our bond, our resilience, and our understanding of truths that most will never know. Remember this: You're not just a veteran. You're not just a statistic. You're a modern-day Spartan, carrying forward a legacy of warrior-hood that few will ever truly understand. And that's okay. Your experiences aren't meant for everyone to understand. They're meant to forge you into something stronger, something rarer, something valuable. Stand tall, warrior. You're among the few, the proud, the battle tested. And you're never truly alone.

Citations:

[1] https://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/united-states

[2] https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/11/08/the-changing-face-of-americas-veteran-population/

[3] https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/population

[4] https://www.va.gov/vetdata/veteran_population.asp

[5] https://www.stlouisfed.org/open-vault/2023/november/sizing-up-ranks-america-veterans