It's often we hear that the best thing you can give a member of the military is your appreciation. And many say there are many ways to do that. As our Brian Dwyer reports, about a hundred people in the Watertown area decided they wanted to learn about the Army and its customs to better understand the life of a soldier.

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WATERTOWN, N.Y. -- Everything from rank structure to customs and courtesy to missions and motivations.

On Tuesday, the Northern New York - Fort Drum Chapter of the Association of the United States Army gave about a hundred people a crash course on all things military.

"Less than one percent of the people of America will ever wear the uniform. So whereas before, you always had a father or a brother or a relative of some sort that had been in the service that could explain those things, today, you don't have that," Mike Plummer of the NNY - Fort Drum Chapter of the AUSA said.

And for the students, many of whom work in the Watertown area serving soldiers, well, they say there's no better way to bridge the gap of military and civilian than to understand their world.

"There's a lot of information to work in the community with the military and also just to be a military spouse or enlisted," Candlewood Suites Sales Director Sandy McDougall said.

"The breakdown from the division, to the brigade, platoon, squad. I never really had a full understanding of that and I do today how that all works," Fred West of the AmeriCU Credit Union

Now not everything can be learned in one day and the AUSA knows that. They're just hoping people will continue to try and learn every day.

"I think what it does is open the door. It's the first page of a book. If you like that first page, you're going to read the rest of the book."

The AUSA hopes the last chapter is the community really understanding the military life, gaining a new respect for the men and women who serve and showing appreciation to those in uniform.