Do you think someone who has never been in a combat has the right to call themselves a veteran?

I have a combat wounded license plate. I have veteran on my driver's license. I cut my hair in a high and tight because it's the only cut I know how to do and I'm too cheap to pay a barber. I dive for cover when low flying jets scream over, or fireworks go off around me.

I wear a big scruffy beard. I do not wear any military related insignia. I don't go out of my way to call attention to myself. I have the license plate because it's free for life. I have veteran on my license because the examiner was a veteran and put it there when I had to get my license activated after having the military non-expiration date on it due to extended overseas service. I wear the haircut because I do it myself. I pick myself up after diving for cover with a red face. I went, I did, I bled, but I lived.

I was part of a team. I didn't get to bring everyone home. They're the ones that should get the praise. They're the ones that deserve the respect. I did my part, but my part wasn't possible without all the help I had, and every member of that team is a veteran. That team deserves the credit.

So, I stand for my team mates that didn't get to come home and can't stand for themselves, when veterans are asked to identify themselves. I watch for other veterans who are down and out, and do what I can to help them. I don't judge them because they served in peace time or in the rear. They are veterans because they served. Combat didn't make me special; it made me messed up. Serving on the team made me a veteran.

Veteran means you served. Peace time Military included.

You can only control certain things in life. One of the things you can't control is when and where wars break out and whether or not you get called to go. By making the decision to do your time on the wall you are a veteran. You can't control whether or not someone shoots at you while you're standing on said wall. But had no one been on the wall during the peaceful times, you can bet your bottom dollar our enemies would've taken advantage of that situation.

Why does everyone automatically think that "combat" involves the "front lines"?

You want a "fire threat"? I lived every day under the threat of waking up / walking around / looking out a window and seeing a warhead falling from the sky that would wind up saying "you've been nuked". Not just "in a strike zone", I mean close enough to read the writing on said warhead before it goes boom.

You want "casualties"? The slightest slip up of my mouth to / near the wrong person could have cost us any number of people's lives as the enemy would know more than they needed to, like how to beat us.

You want to know my "weapon"? It was the computer I used to do my job on.

And no, I wasn't in "Cyber warfare", I was in before it was really it's own division, at the time of my service Cyber was handled by Satellite Command...

Ah, the joys of being a computer programmer on an R&D base. While I never actually picked up or rode in an M-whatever, flew an A-, F- or B-something, etc. etc. - basically be in a position where I had to apply a painful device to someone else, saying that I didn't "fight" for my country is... interesting... to say the least.

And that chef that made sure we were all fed? Were we not HIS (or HER) weapon?

Any person who graduated recruit training is a veteran...period.

Everybody who serves in the military serves at the pleasure of the DoD SPC David Hannaman. We generally had no choice where we were assigned [certainly we had dream sheets where we listed our priorities o assignment :-).
Everybody who has served honorably in the uniform of one of the military service is entitled to consider themselves a veteran.

A Veteran - whether active duty, discharged, retired, guard, or reserve - is someone who, at one point in his/her life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America," for an amount of "up to, and including his/her life."

I deployed to Afghanistan for 9 months and spent prolly over 7 months outside the wire on convoys and on build sites as a Bridge Crew member and we never seen combat. I consider our company very fortunate to spend that much time outside the wire and never lost anyone or had anyone injured. We proudly served our time in a combat zone and brought honor to the Army and our state (we were a National Guard unit). Not everyone who joins gets to decide if they will see bullets fly over their heads. My dad did 22 years in the U.S. Army, served during the Korean and Vietnam conflicts but never seen combat due to duty assignments. I still and will always consider him a Veteran because he signed up to serve during those times when it was frowned upon.

Regardless of the branch a person serves in they are still a veteran once they get out, they signed the check and knew what they were doing.

I can't resist a follow-up to my earlier comment.

I was privileged to be a cadet with the FL-91 AFJROTC at Oak Ridge HS, Orlando, FL, 1976-1978. The senior instructor was Lt Col Luther C. Cox. He spent 2 1/2 years as a POW at the camp featured in The Great Escape, and was there when it happened. That man was a true hero. He is the one who helped us understand that being part of the less than 1 percent of our population who willingly don the uniform is something in which to take pride. Be careful not to fall victim to the devices of the petty entitlists. Remember your training; united we succeed; divided we fall.

There is a great quote by I believe George Washington where he talks about any post where man serves his country is honorable and worth of respect. Being recognized as a veteran is being shown that respect.
A lot of guys struggle with this. From a guy who spent some time on the front lines, let me say thank you for your service. It truly is one team, one fight.

What a crazy question. There's no "I" in "Team." There's just so many ways to explain this yet I find it so self explanatory so I won't even try. We are all Veterans, we are one team, one fight.