Posted on Nov 16, 2015
Do you think someone who has never been in a combat has the right to call themselves a veteran?
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Let me apologize in advance to the people who find this question insulting... I'm just wondering what other people who served viewpoint is.
I personally went many years before I broke down and got "Desert Storm" Veteran tags, and the "Veteran" identifier on my driver's license... I'm still not entirely convinced that I deserve the 101st patch on my right sleeve, for the most part all I did was fix helicopter engines in the sand.
I have a great friend that served in the Air Force, and never left CONUS.
I have a relative that served on Aircraft carriers before Vietnam.
Both proudly stand up when "Veteran's" are asked to at public gatherings, but I always feel strange standing up.
Legal definition of "veteran" aside (someone who served at least six months and received an honorable discharge). I'm wondering more about how those of us that served feel about the term.
When a civilian hears "Veteran" I get the impression that they think we all stormed the beaches at Normandy, and for the most part I was really bored, played Spades and Tetris on my Gameboy during Desert Storm.
Should someone who was in the military during the Vietnam conflict (but never in theater) be allowed "Vietnam Veteran" license plates?
SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4", TSgt Hunter Logan , CH (MAJ) William Beaver , COL Ted Mc
I personally went many years before I broke down and got "Desert Storm" Veteran tags, and the "Veteran" identifier on my driver's license... I'm still not entirely convinced that I deserve the 101st patch on my right sleeve, for the most part all I did was fix helicopter engines in the sand.
I have a great friend that served in the Air Force, and never left CONUS.
I have a relative that served on Aircraft carriers before Vietnam.
Both proudly stand up when "Veteran's" are asked to at public gatherings, but I always feel strange standing up.
Legal definition of "veteran" aside (someone who served at least six months and received an honorable discharge). I'm wondering more about how those of us that served feel about the term.
When a civilian hears "Veteran" I get the impression that they think we all stormed the beaches at Normandy, and for the most part I was really bored, played Spades and Tetris on my Gameboy during Desert Storm.
Should someone who was in the military during the Vietnam conflict (but never in theater) be allowed "Vietnam Veteran" license plates?
SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4", TSgt Hunter Logan , CH (MAJ) William Beaver , COL Ted Mc
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Military service
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Military service Purple Heart
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Responses: 358
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As long as someone who served did their job to the best of their ability while they were in and finished with an honorable discharge, I don't see why not. Most of the military is not directly involved in combat and hasn't been in a long time, but the guy cooking your food, making sure the engines on the ship keep turning or makes sure that your beans, bullets and bandages make it to where they're going contributes to the mission as well as the guy on the front lines.
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Everyone who has served honorably are veterans period. It doesn't matter if they have seen combat or not, they have in many ways contributed to their team, their unit and the Military. If you think about it, all the MOS in the military are essential to the mission, without the fuelers, cooks, medics, supply, ammo, mechanics and etc. the military will be disabled with no limbs. Don't think what you did while you served is less honorable then the man who pulled the trigger, you helped put him there and brought him home safely. We should thank all veterans regardless of what they did in the services because without them doing their very best in what they do, America wouldn't be America today. So thank you all for your service.
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Yes! You signed on the Dotted Line promising if necessary Uncle Sam your service up to and including your life in necessary. Not everybody that serves, serves during wartime and those that even do during wartime don't necessarily end up on the Front Line. I did 21 years in Navy Intelligence most of the time in Hawaii, Alaska, West Virginia, London and DC but I did get an all paid trip to Desert Storm/Southern Watch and Desert Strike. Even on those 2 trips no one took any pot shots at us (Never a good thing to do with a Navy Battlewagon). Served for a Few Years as Commander of my Local VFW too.
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Yes, I do. You served; you are a veteran. It is as simple as that. ALL of us who took the oath knew that we "could" go to war... some did, some did not. For a long time, I always felt that if one went to war, they were a hero, higher than me. BUT, one day a few years ago, I ran into a retired USAF veteran, who was 92 years old, who served in WWII. I stopped and thanked him for his service and mentioned I was an Air Force veteran and that he was a hero. He looked at me and said, "You served?" I said, "Yes." He then said, "Then you are a hero as well." That was about 5-6 years ago. So it does not matter when, how or where you served... you served and that makes you a veteran.
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SSgt (Join to see)
I wonder if the person who cooked their meals not be considered Veterans. Or the postal office, supply, Air Traffic Contol, Drone Pilots, MPs, Nurses, Doctors, or Editors of the Stars and Stripes, AFN, weather, EOD etc, etc?
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MSG John Wirts
How about anyone who did not get down and dirty on the front perimeter of a fire fight? Tell it to pilots who never got into a firefight on the ground, but had to dodge SAMS, Flack , and enemy planes in the sky. Anyone who was in service at that time was subject to assignment to the combat theater. As we found out in Vietnam, Saigon was supposedly a safe assignment until the Tet Offensive. Our disarmed servicemen and women found out stateside bases and recruiting stations are not safe, especially when declared gun free zones. If we are engaged in armed conflict, declared war or not,no one is safe especially unarmed civilians, they are not trained to duck, hide and find safe cover for themselves and their families. Our training helps reduce risk, but I respectfully suggest that our commander in chief be required to submit to his own directives. 1.) If guns are not allowed for protection in the military, he should disband the secret service and transfer them to real law enforcement. 2.) He should be prohibited from owning or carrying any firearm. 3.) he should have to procure his own transportation from his office budget. He should be prohibited from commandeering scarce military assets for his transportation, protection, or as travel agents for him and his staff. I would say as he is trying to demilitarize the military, he should have to step back, the president should have to propose military action, but funding and authorization for any military action especially intelligence gathering shoiuld fall directly under the Senate, and Congress!
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What a retarded question. When did a fighting man fight without the whole support system? Who procured the ammo, who distributed the ammo, who provided the Intel of the targets, who fueled the vehicles, who fixed them, who healed the wounded? I'm amazed at the stupidity of the question.
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I was in Beirut Lebanon aboard the USS New Jersey BB-62 and saw the Marine Barracks blown up killing 241 U.S. troops, and the French barracks killing 65 of their personnel. Our ship fired into both Lebanon and Syria (5" and 16" shells) in support of the Marines. We fired 288 rounds of 16" shells into Lebanon and Syria in one day, YET OUR GOVERNMENT SAYS WE WERE NOT IN COMBAT! Syria also used missile systems and locked onto our ship but never had the balls to fire.
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I would answer this question with a question of my own. Would you consider The following people veterans? Admiral Nimitz? General Eisenhower? General Arnold (US Army Air Corps)? None of those gentleman fought in combat. They lead but never fought. If you are trying to determine whether someone is a veteran or not based on whether they were in combat, you run into a problematic issue. Does a medic who never fired their weapon not count as a veteran as opposed to the soldier next to them who did? Do you have to be shot at or can you just be shooting? Would Pilots over Afghanistan not be called veterans because the Taliban does not have the weapons to shoot down a jet fighter (For the most part)? If you narrow the scope of who and who is not a veteran to such a fine point you could exclude almost everyone then you render the term veteran practically useless.
A veteran (from Latin vetus, meaning "old") is a person who has had long service or experience in a particular occupation or field; "A veteran of..." For the military we have taken this meaning and applied it to all who have service or experience in the military regardless of length of service or experience.
As for how you feel about yourself, no-one but you can decide whether you deserve to call yourself a veteran. The rest of us will call you a veteran and treat you as such because you served, just like the lowest private at Bunker Hill to the five star Generals and Admirals of WW2.
A veteran (from Latin vetus, meaning "old") is a person who has had long service or experience in a particular occupation or field; "A veteran of..." For the military we have taken this meaning and applied it to all who have service or experience in the military regardless of length of service or experience.
As for how you feel about yourself, no-one but you can decide whether you deserve to call yourself a veteran. The rest of us will call you a veteran and treat you as such because you served, just like the lowest private at Bunker Hill to the five star Generals and Admirals of WW2.
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I work in a job that ensures aircraft that are mission essential, including C-130s, KC-130s, F/A-18s, and the like are able to see the front line and supply our men and women, or lay down fire for them. Everyone in this glorious and vast military plays their part that, without them, another couldn't do their job and eventually it'd all just fall apart. Without supply and GSE, the birds don't fly and if the birds don't fly, then it may take much longer for the troops overseas to get their supplies, if it ever comes at all. I'll admit, there are times I don't feel like I'm making a lick of difference here, in the states, but every now and then, when one of the squadrons I support gets deployed, it makes a world of difference. Yes, I do stand when Veterans are called upon, and I've called on them myself during many funeral and color guard details, and I would expect, anyone who's donned a military uniform to stand and render a hand salute during Taps or the National Anthem. Many of them just had desk jobs, and while it may not be as severe, it still came with sacrifice. They went where their country needed them, and that's what counts.
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If you served and were discharged honorably I would think you are a veteran.
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The fact that you are even asking such an offensive question makes you questionable yourself. All Americans that voluntarily serve their Nation without reservation and with the knowledge that one day they may be shipped into harms way are true Patriots; when they complete their contract with our Federal Government, they have every right to be called a Veteran regardless of whether they went into Combat or not. In my field, i know all too well that nobody can succeed in the Zone without all of the combat service support and combat support that feed the front lines; some of these critical functions have to support from the Rear as well as the Front Lines. Be respectful of all our service members that have once served and are still serving; we are all value added otherwise the DA would not bother having so many MOSs. It is great to be proud of your service to our Great Nation; do it while affording others the same dignity and respect for theirs because we are all Brothers and Sisters in Arms. CW2 Eichenlaub.
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