Veteran acknowledges choice to serve primarily based on annual free meal at Applebee's

Today is Veterans Day in the United States, a day when private citizens and businesses alike make an effort to acknowledge those who made the brave choice to serve and protect the American ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Thanks are also in order to Dave Galuskey, who primarily joined the armed forces in anticipation of an annual free meal at Applebee's.

"Freedom of speech and defending democracy is all well and good, but truth be told, my heart was really in it for the Applebee's," said Galuskey, who fought through a harrowing three-year tour in Afghanistan fraught with death and destruction.

While many veterans express their love for the red, white, and blue, the now 42-year-old has his mind set on the red, white, and green of the neighborhood bar and grill's glowing neon signage.

"I was discharged a number of years ago now, but the love that called me to become a Marine has only grown stronger as time goes on," gushed Galuskey, who works as a bricklayer. "One year you order the chicken tender platter, another the six ounce top sirloin. At some point, you decide to spice things up with fiesta lime chicken or — God bless — double crunch shrimp. It endures."

After going on a several minute, teary-eyed ramble about the mathematical novelty of two times the crunch, the Destin, Florida native got back on track.

"Every year on this day, the kind folks at that restaurant chain serve me my food free of charge. The least I could've done is serve them by putting my life on the line," shared Galuskey.

And in a time when this occasion is marred by political rhetoric, the proud American wants to make clear that he fought for all states, regardless of party affiliation.

"From California, where Applebee's was invented in a stroke of pure genius, to New York, where the largest of the restaurants resides, and even down to my home state of Florida, which is lucky enough to house more locations than anywhere else in the country — I fought for them all," said the veteran.

With a location in each of the 50 states, it's fitting to say that Applebee's is as American as apple pie. At least until tomorrow, when Galuskey will again have to pay to dine there like the rest of the plebeians.

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Photo courtesy of Rusty Clark via CC BY 2.0