When an American thinks of a veteran, what does that veteran look like?

That's the question a woman who spent four years in the Air Force was left with when she found a nastigram stuck on her vehicle window after she parked in a veterans-only parking space Sunday at her Wilmington, North Carolina, Harris Teeter Sunday.

"Maybe [you] can't read the sign you parked in front of," began the note scribbled in black marker on the backside of an envelope. "This space is reserved for those who fought for America ... not you. Thanks, wounded vet."

"I was gobsmacked. I was hurt. I felt blindsided," said Mary Claire Caine, who served from 1996 to 2000 as an avionics technician at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico.

For a moment, Caine she considered the possibility she'd taken a liberty she didn't deserve — that she wasn't worthy of the space marked "Reserved Veteran Parking."

Caine tried to push the thought from her head. "No matter how you slice it, I spent four years on an Air Force Base working on the flight line."

She deployed to Kuwait and spent holidays away from her family in service to her country. "I carried out every order that was given to me for four years. I'm not sorry I didn't sacrifice more. I did exactly what was asked of me. And I did it well and I served with honor."

Caine decided there is a lesson to be learned from the experience: "If a person has a particular vision of what a veteran looks like, they may want to reconsider that. The military finds a place for everybody. We're all shapes, sizes and colors. We're all from different backgrounds, different education levels. And that's the beautiful thing not only about the military, but about the United States of America."

Caine grew up the daughter of a Marine Corps officer and Vietnam War veteran. Her older brothers followed their father's path.

"I didn't see that for me at all," she said. After high school, "I was really trying to do it all, and it wasn't working out very well."

That's when her dad suggested the military. Her brothers agreed, telling their younger sister she ought to look into the Air Force.

She enlisted in May 1996 at the age of 21, heading to Holloman to work on the F-117 Nighthawk flightline after basic training.

"I needed some discipline and direction, to kind of surrender to somebody telling what to do," Caine said.

It was everything she thought it would be — and more. "It was a fantastic, incredible experience. I met people who are lifetime friends of mine. I have nothing but great things to say about it."

While at Holloman, Caine was able to take classes at and the local community college. She traveled, deploying once to Kuwait, and departed the Air Force after a four-year tour as a senior airman. She settled in North Carolina, earned her college degree and became a Realtor.

Caine always appreciated the veteran parking space at her local Harris Teeter. "I think it's a good example to remind people to be appreciative of service members — not just on Veterans Day or when a terrible thing happens."

She doesn't didn't always park in the space, but triesd to make a point to when her 10-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter are were with her. They think it's neat that their mom served in the military.

On Sunday, Caine was alone, driving her SUV with her business and contact information emblazoned on the back. Perhaps, she thought, that's what threw whomever left the note. Maybe the writer believed the space was intended only for wounded veterans, even though it doesn't say that. Maybe they had one view of what a service member is supposed to look like.

She decided to contact her local television station, WAFB Channel 9, which first aired the story on Monday. It quickly went viral, eliciting overwhelming response.

Several fellow female vets have contacted her to share similar stories, which made her feel less alone in the experience. "I've had some Vietnam veterans send me some positive messages, saying 'good for you for sticking up for yourself and for serving our country.' "

And when Caine returned to the grocery store on Tuesday to find the veteran space open, she pulled in — with pride.

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