Female veteran gets shamed for parking in veteran-reserved spot

WILMINGTON, NC -- When Mary Claire Caine went shopping at her local Harris Teeter Sunday, she parked in a spot reserved for veterans. When she returned to her car, she discovered a nasty note.

The author of the note had assumed Caine had not served in the armed forces. She has.

"Maybe you can't read the sign you parked in front of," reads the note, which Caine posted on Facebook. "This space is reserved for those who fought for America, not you."

The note was signed only "Thanks, wounded vet."

Caine, who served for four years as an avionics technician at an Air Force base in New Mexico, spoke to the Air Force Times and local media about the incident.

"I was gobsmacked. I was hurt. I felt blindsided," she told them.

Caine told the Times that she doesn't always park in the reserved space, but her children, 7 and 10, love it when she does. They were not with her Sunday.

The veteran was deployed to Kuwait and spent holidays away from her family, the Times reports.

The Times said her story is another reminder that veterans do not all fit into one physical profile.

"The military finds a place for everybody. We're all shapes, sizes and colors. We're all from different backgrounds, different education levels," Caine told the Times. "If a person has a particular vision of what a veteran looks like, they may want to reconsider that."