Jordan Towers, a Marine who served in Iraq, says he got a sobering reply after he Facebooked his Marine buddy in Afghanistan and jubilantly wrote, "We got him."
Towers says his friend wrote: "Well, that's great. I'm glad you guys found Osama bin Laden and killed him, but I'm still here fighting. The Taliban is still a real threat for me."
Towers says the death of bin Laden does nothing to relieve the pain of losing friends in war, but he says it's breathing new life into the War on Terror.
"I can't tell you how big a morale boost this was," said Towers.
But the veterans and active service members ABC7 spoke with Monday night, say it did not have them dancing in the streets like mobs of Americans who celebrated late Sunday night.
"For me personally, it was more somber only because having deployed to a combat zone and serving with Marines in a combat zone, you appreciate the cost of war," said U.S. Marine Capt. Phillip Cordeiro.
"My reaction? I was surprised I would say mostly…because it's been so long. Almost some of my friends, it's a little bit of a joke, 'Oh, you know, whatever happened to Osama bin Laden?'" said former Army Capt. Rio Minor.
For some, bin Laden's death just brought back more painful memories.
"War isn't a good thing and a lot of people get hurt, physically, mentally, it's just not good," said former Army Spc. Casey Fender. When asked if bin Laden's death meant a whole lot to him, Fender said, "No. No, I could care less about him. I don't want to give him the dignity of caring about him."
