Posted on Oct 22, 2015
Do you call yourself a Desert Shield, Storm, or Iraqi Freedom Vet? If you didn't serve in the theatre of operations, are you really?
22.5K
106
69
11
11
0
The VA calls me a Desert Storm vet.
I never got sand in my boots.
I treated a lot of GSW, burns, broken bones, and torn flesh - sometimes as many as 50 different patients a day. Infrequently more than that. Yes, I served my combat role. Yes, I was deploy-able - and doing everything I could to make myself more useful to the Army should they chose me to go. (*Air Assault, EFMB, a bunch of other combat related training)
This was true of a lot of support personnel, my veteran wife included.
We worked some long hours, went home and watched CNN 24 hour coverage of the WAR, then went back to work.
We watched our friends and loved ones go, and we prayed they'd come back.
We tried to join them, we never knew when (or if) it would be our turn to deploy.
Bottom line, they got us ready to go several times, but just didn't need us there. You know, needs of the Army...
I waited 23 years to address service injuries with the VA system because I felt like those who were wounded in action deserved to be treated before me.
No joke, 23 years. CS exposure? yep. DEET and Pyr. Bromide? yep. ALL the vaccines prior to deployment? yep - wife even had those while in her first trimester. A few broken bones and a little torn flesh while performing our military roles? we did that too.
Yet, we still feel guilty calling ourselves Desert Storm Vets.
What do you think? Should we? Should someone who deployed but never saw combat, or are they just a veteran who was in country for Desert Storm?
Or should I just buy my wife and myself that damned hat?
I never got sand in my boots.
I treated a lot of GSW, burns, broken bones, and torn flesh - sometimes as many as 50 different patients a day. Infrequently more than that. Yes, I served my combat role. Yes, I was deploy-able - and doing everything I could to make myself more useful to the Army should they chose me to go. (*Air Assault, EFMB, a bunch of other combat related training)
This was true of a lot of support personnel, my veteran wife included.
We worked some long hours, went home and watched CNN 24 hour coverage of the WAR, then went back to work.
We watched our friends and loved ones go, and we prayed they'd come back.
We tried to join them, we never knew when (or if) it would be our turn to deploy.
Bottom line, they got us ready to go several times, but just didn't need us there. You know, needs of the Army...
I waited 23 years to address service injuries with the VA system because I felt like those who were wounded in action deserved to be treated before me.
No joke, 23 years. CS exposure? yep. DEET and Pyr. Bromide? yep. ALL the vaccines prior to deployment? yep - wife even had those while in her first trimester. A few broken bones and a little torn flesh while performing our military roles? we did that too.
Yet, we still feel guilty calling ourselves Desert Storm Vets.
What do you think? Should we? Should someone who deployed but never saw combat, or are they just a veteran who was in country for Desert Storm?
Or should I just buy my wife and myself that damned hat?
Posted in these groups: 
Operation Desert Shield/Storm
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Stolen Valor
Operation Desert Shield/Storm Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Stolen Valor
Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 38
0
0
0
I served from June 1990 to July 1999 in the Air force, then worked for the Army as a civilian until I had to medically retire from civil service due to my servive connected disability (Multiple Sclerosis). No, I never "played in the sand" I served in a support role working Avionics on C 130's 141's and HH-60 Helicopters. I was a Security Manager for a Military Intelligence Group in Europe. I did a 10 day tour of Afghanistan to ensure the locations my group were located in had what they needed from a securty point of view. Do I consider myself a "Veteran", yes, I served our nation in one way or another for 25 years, and became disabled during that time. However, I still somewhat guilty receiving 100% disabilty from the VA, Social Security Benefits and my civil service retirement pension. I am only 51 years old, I can not work anymore, but I know of many more veterans who are having problems getting wha they deserve. If any of this made sense, i'll consider myself lucky.
(0)
(0)
CPT Brent Ferguson
You made perfect sense. What sandbox vets fail to realize is that they brought home 'gifts' for their loved ones and caregivers. Sand fleas, flies, depleted uranium dust, biologics and chemical agents were all over them when we cared for them. We were given the same immunizations because of this threat - including the experimental anthrax vaccine and botulin toxin - as well as many more we were not allowed to be informed of. My wife got these shots in her first trimester. Prior to my marriage, well, I was intimate with several returning female vets. (Go figure, but I was still single.) Our children have unusual illnesses as a result. We may not have played in the sand, but we paid the price along with everyone else. Did you know more vets died as a result of the gulf wars than in Nam? Did you know that the mortality for gulf war combat vets was 10% while that of vets who did not deploy was 40%? These are facts that are extremely anomalous compared to any other modern war. Yet, they are fact. (As of 2007 - the numbers are only going to be higher now.)
(2)
(0)
CPT Brent Ferguson
(*The reason you may not realize the total mortality of DS is that at the onset of that war combat fatality was redefined to dying with your ass in the sand. If you died during medevac, or stateside while we were cleaning the dust and debris out of your wounds, you didn't count as a combat fatality.) Nam vets wounded in action that later died were considered combat fatalities as a comparison. This was done to downplay the number of deaths for the media and US public.
(1)
(0)
0
0
0
Actually call myself a Persian Gulf War Vet. The three campaigns of the Gulf War were given operational names. Yes, I did deploy and served with CENTCOM and qualified for all three campaign stars. However, prior to deploying, I was involved in preparing personnel for deployment. Had I not gone to the sand box, I would not have called myself a Vet of the War or the Campaigns.
It was truly not until after the Gulf War, that the services started to truly acknowledge that not everyone who contributes to a war is in the box that defines the wartime area of operations.
The concept of recognizing "out of the zone combatants" has had a rocky history. Technology allows us to place key assets "in the battle space" while keeping their physical bodies far from direct harm. We talk about asymetric warfare, electronic collocation, virtual warriors. However, we have difficulty acknowledging the relative merit and contributions of these personnel. You can see evidence of this in the uproar over attempted recognition for personnel in direct support (but not within the defined war zone) from liberation of Grenada in the 1980s to the UAS, Predator pilots and systems operators serving today.
For the record I entered the USAR IRR in Jan 1975 and Active Duty in May 1975, which marks me as a Vietnam Era Vet, [and Cold War Vet], but not a Vietnam War Vet.
It was truly not until after the Gulf War, that the services started to truly acknowledge that not everyone who contributes to a war is in the box that defines the wartime area of operations.
The concept of recognizing "out of the zone combatants" has had a rocky history. Technology allows us to place key assets "in the battle space" while keeping their physical bodies far from direct harm. We talk about asymetric warfare, electronic collocation, virtual warriors. However, we have difficulty acknowledging the relative merit and contributions of these personnel. You can see evidence of this in the uproar over attempted recognition for personnel in direct support (but not within the defined war zone) from liberation of Grenada in the 1980s to the UAS, Predator pilots and systems operators serving today.
For the record I entered the USAR IRR in Jan 1975 and Active Duty in May 1975, which marks me as a Vietnam Era Vet, [and Cold War Vet], but not a Vietnam War Vet.
(0)
(0)
CPT Brent Ferguson
I understand and appreciate your comments and your service. Using the guidelines you have delineated someone who contracts a radiation based disease from a vet who served in the gulf and dies as a result is a noncombat veteran, but are they any less a casualty of the Gulf War?
(0)
(0)
MAJ Alvin B.
Possibly not. However, out current system draws the line rather tightly. In my personal experience the first time I witnessed a true attempt to recognize "out of the zone" participants was with the by-name lists of participants supporting peace enforcement [yes this was enforcement, not peace keeping] operations in the Balkans from outside of the designated AOR (e.g. Germany, Italy, etc...).
(0)
(0)
0
0
0
0
0
0
I call myself Veteran, Disable Veteran (yes, I'm service connected), or Dysfunctional Veteran depending on my mood. :) I can care less how the VA calls it, as long as the VA has my disability rating correct. :)
(0)
(0)
CPT Brent Ferguson
"as long as the VA has my disability rating correct. :)"
Any tips on how to make that happen? I got in with dental due to documented dental trauma, but I'm having a wonderful time with Ortho - 11 mos and counting to repair the knew I blew out keeping a buddy from harm during a night Air Assault jump. (*my knee vs his head, I chose my knee - and I don't even remember his name.) My enlisted medical records went MIA when I was direct commissioned.
Any tips on how to make that happen? I got in with dental due to documented dental trauma, but I'm having a wonderful time with Ortho - 11 mos and counting to repair the knew I blew out keeping a buddy from harm during a night Air Assault jump. (*my knee vs his head, I chose my knee - and I don't even remember his name.) My enlisted medical records went MIA when I was direct commissioned.
(0)
(0)
MSgt (Join to see)
You can try to see if they are in National Archives (http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/medical-records.html). You can also contact the base or post medical facility where you received treatment for the injuries and see if they have electronic records. If they do, get copies.
(0)
(0)
0
0
0
0
0
0
I am in a motorcycle club made up of Viet Nam Vets and other conflict Vets. The club in case you're curious is the Viet Nam Vets/Legacy Vets MC.
Now to your question because when you get a bunch of Vets together there are going to be war stories. To answer the question from my point of view, there are Viet Nam combat Vets, In Country Vets, and Viet Nam "Era" Vets. These are the 3 catagories I have heard from the Viet Nam Vets themselves. And yes there was the calls of REMF's when they talked about the 'In Country Vets', but there was also different conversations between those who were out in the bush constantly, and those who threw the shells downrange to keep up a steel curtain. I see a lot of 1st Cav Vets, 173rd Vets and a few others thrown in the mix. I know a former tunnel rat, and a Canadian who fought in the US Army.
Now for the current eras, Dec 31, 1975/Jan 1, 1976 is the cutoff dates for the difference between our Patches in the club.
I'm a DS Vet, with 2 tours in Iraq during OIF so I have my own opinions. When I came back from DS in '91 I was one of those who threw it in the face of those who didn't go because I had volunteered to go with another unit before my unit was alerted. In case you who are reading this wonder about my MOS, I'm a Combat Engineer. We used to put in and take out mine fields, build bridges, and freeze our asses off in Graf and Hoenfels living in M113's in the winter. I digress, during our time in the 100 hours of war, we were with a Tank Company of the 3rd AD, even though we came from an Infantry Division. We were there to clear mine fields as needed for the tankers. After the ground war was over we spent 3 weeks in what is now Camp Udhari, Kuwait. We were 4 klicks from the Iraq border. Every day we were given a couple hundred pounds of C4, a direction and distance of something that needed to be destroyed, ASP's, Hospital Bunkers, artillery positions, etc. We once destroyed 2 ASP's. One was a 255 ton detonation, the other was a 205 ton detonation. We had fun doing the enemy tanks, close the turret and the detonation would pop the turret off the tank.
Ok, back on track. You will find many points of view on whether you are a DS Veteran or a DS era Vet. it all boils down to what you would consider yourself.
Me personally, I don't consider anyone who did not qualify for a Campaign Medal a DS Veteran, OIF/OEF Veteran. And I'm referring to the actual Campaign Medals, not the GWOT service. I disagree with the recent change in criteria for the GWOT Expeditionary Medal that makes anyone who deployed to SWA eligible, where before it was only those who were there for OIF 1 and 2.
To wrap all of this up, you can consider yourself an Era Vet, or a DS Vet as you choose, but there will be so many opinions, and there will be some who will actually get into fist fights over their opinions about the matter. Bottom line, you are what you consider yourself, although for some benefits you would have to be a deployed in country Veteran.
I hope this isn't too confusing.
Now to your question because when you get a bunch of Vets together there are going to be war stories. To answer the question from my point of view, there are Viet Nam combat Vets, In Country Vets, and Viet Nam "Era" Vets. These are the 3 catagories I have heard from the Viet Nam Vets themselves. And yes there was the calls of REMF's when they talked about the 'In Country Vets', but there was also different conversations between those who were out in the bush constantly, and those who threw the shells downrange to keep up a steel curtain. I see a lot of 1st Cav Vets, 173rd Vets and a few others thrown in the mix. I know a former tunnel rat, and a Canadian who fought in the US Army.
Now for the current eras, Dec 31, 1975/Jan 1, 1976 is the cutoff dates for the difference between our Patches in the club.
I'm a DS Vet, with 2 tours in Iraq during OIF so I have my own opinions. When I came back from DS in '91 I was one of those who threw it in the face of those who didn't go because I had volunteered to go with another unit before my unit was alerted. In case you who are reading this wonder about my MOS, I'm a Combat Engineer. We used to put in and take out mine fields, build bridges, and freeze our asses off in Graf and Hoenfels living in M113's in the winter. I digress, during our time in the 100 hours of war, we were with a Tank Company of the 3rd AD, even though we came from an Infantry Division. We were there to clear mine fields as needed for the tankers. After the ground war was over we spent 3 weeks in what is now Camp Udhari, Kuwait. We were 4 klicks from the Iraq border. Every day we were given a couple hundred pounds of C4, a direction and distance of something that needed to be destroyed, ASP's, Hospital Bunkers, artillery positions, etc. We once destroyed 2 ASP's. One was a 255 ton detonation, the other was a 205 ton detonation. We had fun doing the enemy tanks, close the turret and the detonation would pop the turret off the tank.
Ok, back on track. You will find many points of view on whether you are a DS Veteran or a DS era Vet. it all boils down to what you would consider yourself.
Me personally, I don't consider anyone who did not qualify for a Campaign Medal a DS Veteran, OIF/OEF Veteran. And I'm referring to the actual Campaign Medals, not the GWOT service. I disagree with the recent change in criteria for the GWOT Expeditionary Medal that makes anyone who deployed to SWA eligible, where before it was only those who were there for OIF 1 and 2.
To wrap all of this up, you can consider yourself an Era Vet, or a DS Vet as you choose, but there will be so many opinions, and there will be some who will actually get into fist fights over their opinions about the matter. Bottom line, you are what you consider yourself, although for some benefits you would have to be a deployed in country Veteran.
I hope this isn't too confusing.
(0)
(0)
0
0
0
I took the ASVAB, so I am pretty much a Green Beret...........
(LOL, just kidding brother)
(LOL, just kidding brother)
(0)
(0)
0
0
0
They gave us the NDSM during Desert Storm, yet I never went over. I did for OIF. I consider my self a cold war era vet, Desert Storm era vet and an OIF VET. No matter how much we wanted to go, we do what we are ordered and to the best of our abilities.
(0)
(0)
SSG Norbert Johnson
Nothing wrong with the NDSM as that demonstrates that you were in a supportive roll during a time of war. I bare that resemblance as I served from Vietnam to Desert Shield/Desert Storm. In the rear with the Gear.. Trained and Ready on Second Team.
(0)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google