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
Purple Heart
Military service Purple Heart
Edited 10 y ago
Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 368
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Absolutely! A citizen of our nation took the courage to do what others didn't, sacrificing their time, their body, their mind, their family, doing whatever is necessary (whether they went to combat or not) in defense of the nation, and the betterment of society. Yes individual experiences may very, but to swear an oath to take up arms at any time (once again whether they do or not) is a very high honor that should be respected by everyone who calls them self an American.
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I was never assigned outside of CONUS. I was on a mobility assignment for several years. I was in between Vietnam and Desert Storm. I was ready and willing to go where ever I was ordered. I'm absolutely a veteran!
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I think anyone that makes a decision to server is a Veteran however how you chose to describe yourself while serving is different. I think of a Soldier as someone who has served in Combat vs Veteran is a broad understanding that you made a choice that "IF" you see combat then you will lie down your life for your countries freedoms. I think your question is fair because you feel like that even though you were not in immediate danger that you didn't do anything, and that's simply not true, you helped the big picture, someone had to fix that aircraft, someone had to fly that aircraft you did your part so they could do theirs. Were a team, if one fails we all fail and one prospers we all prosper and this is true as a whole. The service you provided indirectly provided protection for someone, feel honor in that because you did your job effectively that you prevented someones death, outside of that, how you chose to describe what type of Veteran is soley up to you, but to me Veteran is like the word American, in that your just a Veteran, not a combat veteran, not any etc, just like your an American.
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I tend to agree with Merriam-Webster. Veteran: (1b) a former member of the armed forces. I am a (combat) veteran myself, but I don't see why anyone who hasn't seen combat but still felt compelled enough to sign the dotted line to should be denied the title and respect of veteran solely based on the fact that he did not see combat.
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No disrespect intended, but this question ruffles my feathers. I served with honor, doing a non-combat job that I cannot discuss because of the high security clearance I have once held. I have earned a wartime medal for being overseas at the time of the Persian Gulf War (The NDSM), and I know for a fact, from veterans who fought in combat, that I am no less a veteran than they are.
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Personally I find the question almost insulting. There are more ways to serve. My whole family is full of veterans. Dating back to the civil war. So to ask that question. I'm thinking you may have wanted to p$&@ people off. Once you take that oath you put yourself in harms way. The Marine Corps was the best thing to happen to a little sh&t like me. There is nothing like putting your life in someone else's hands and expect them not to have butter fingers. So yes they are under any circumstance. Even if you get the BCD you still took the oath to die for your country if need be.
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Yes, however I don't think it's right that everyone who deploys is considered a combat veteran. It's a misnomer, misleading & I think it takes away from those who engage in actual combat. I thought it was a mistake when the VA told me I'm a combat vet. Even having worked checkpoint duty on the outskirts, out makes me cringe. Being in the combat zone, even doing a dangerous job there, is not the same as direct combat.
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Absolutely! First, do any of us really want to go to war? Don't we know, better than anybody, the true cost of war? Further, huge numbers of us, including almost every single one of my uncles, served in peacetime; the fact that they and those like them were there were, ready and willing to fight, is the biggest reason why they never needed to.
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The military relies on everyone - from the pencil pushers who never leave CONUS, to the lead slingers who feel they never leave the theater of war - to get the job done.
Every one of us who took the oath knew that in doing so, we could be targeted, regardless of where we filled our billet, for murder just because we wore the uniform.
Those who served during a time of no external conflict at all (something less than 50 years in our nation's history) still took the oath to die, if need be, to ensure the safety of the civilians under our care, during our watch. The only people who wore the uniform who are *not* veterans, in my book, are those who joined under false pretenses (like current gang members who are kept "clean" before they join, so that they can learn military strategies and tactics) and those who abuse the honor of the uniform they chose to wear for personal, selfish, corrupt gain. Law-breakers. Traitors. Abusers (or anyone) who use their military status to further the reach of their personal evils.
Unless you joined with the plan to quit (by whatever means) when the going got tough, and / or when you got orders to deploy - you are a veteran.
Every one of us who took the oath knew that in doing so, we could be targeted, regardless of where we filled our billet, for murder just because we wore the uniform.
Those who served during a time of no external conflict at all (something less than 50 years in our nation's history) still took the oath to die, if need be, to ensure the safety of the civilians under our care, during our watch. The only people who wore the uniform who are *not* veterans, in my book, are those who joined under false pretenses (like current gang members who are kept "clean" before they join, so that they can learn military strategies and tactics) and those who abuse the honor of the uniform they chose to wear for personal, selfish, corrupt gain. Law-breakers. Traitors. Abusers (or anyone) who use their military status to further the reach of their personal evils.
Unless you joined with the plan to quit (by whatever means) when the going got tough, and / or when you got orders to deploy - you are a veteran.
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