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

The question by itself is not insulting but when you added the piece "I always feel a bit like they're disrespecting the guys who went to Vietnam or participated in the War on terror" you have essentially stated your opinion (no). We all have a roll in this military and a job we are given to do. Those who found the loop holes to avoid deployment and/or direct combat know what they have done and have to live with that. But when you say you feel some Veteran's are disrespecting others who went to a combat zone, you're essentially redefining the word to mean something it's not. Especially when you later add another qualifier, the Purple Heart. Were these people asked to stand up if they were wounded in Combat? No! What about those who fought in direct combat and were never injured? Are they disrespecting them too? As just about everyone on this thread has stated, all those who served in the military honorably for any amount of time are defined as Veterans. We have other designations and honors for those who earned Purple Hearts, Medals for Valor, etc... Knowing this I would expect all Veterans, who were never injured in combat, not to stand up if they are asked if they earned a Purple Heart.

The problem is, you are redefining the word Veteran. The word is not meant to define someone who has faced the enemy in direct combat. If you add qualifiers, where does it begin/end? Is a fighter pilot a Veteran? What if he never faced an air-to-air engagement? To go a little father, let's say he flew over Iraq as an escort to a bombing mission but never got shot at. Is that person not a Veteran? What about all the support personnel who deploy but never leave the base? If that doesn't qualify them as Veterans, what about those who are faced with rocket attacks on a regular basis throughout their deployment? Then there's the guys who go behind the wire on a regular basis and somehow still never see combat, IEDs, etc... Are they not Veterans? You spoke of the folks on carriers... are you saying that the majority of the Navy who spend their entire time on board the ship cannot be considered Veterans? What exactly would your definition be to define a Veteran?

Personally, I'm very surprised there's even a small amount of people who voted "no" in your poll. I looked through this entire thread and tried to find one of them defend such a vote and could not find one (I might have missed it). I would like to see this person (people) defend that vote.

I did eight and hit the gate with an Honorable, but if people ask me if I'm a veteran I say no. I say I'm prior service.

I'm one of those people that didn't get a Purple Heart, but I consider myself a veteran. I was one of the lucky ones that didn't get my number called for the draft. I turned 18 in 1969. In 1974 when it was not the most popular thing to do, I enlisted. I didn't get sent to VN. My unit was on alert about once every 90 days because of one incident or another happening in the world. We never knew which one would be the ONE. I missed being sent to Panama both times. I missed being sent to Haiti. I missed being sent to Grenada, Desert Storm, Rwanda and Bosnia. It just so happens that in every case I was either in a different part of the world doing my Patriotic duty or I was mission essential at the location I was assigned. I was "deployed" to other parts of the world that DOD considered important at the time. I was in Berlin facing communist every day before the Wall came down. I was in Korea during the year of the Olympics and stayed on alert because there was the threat that the North would do something. I've provided security for two Presidents and one King. I've guarded Vietnamese and Cuban refugees. I was in the planning cells for both Rwanda and Bosnia. So is it my fault that the Army didn't send me somewhere or that I didn't get shot. By the way I have been shot at, had knives pulled on me had things thrown at me been punched, bit by by a working dog and this was all in the line of duty. So I guess because I wasn't drafted in '69 and served 2 years in a combat zone and got wounded I'm not a vet. I've never claimed to be a hero and never will but I am a Veteran. I'm done preachin' now.

Being a veteran is the honor of serving one's nation via the military regardless of branch or combat. Some vets served in between major wars and conflicts. The fact if you raised our right and swore a oath more than many are willing to do even or think about. Take pride that you were able to put on the uniform whether it was 4 years or 20 years. We all have role to play from combat arms to logistics. Like a football team, we all can't be the quarterback.

If you have the guts to sign up knowing you might never come home alive, then you are a veteran. If you never go to combat then you wouldn't be a "Combat Veteran". But, nonetheless, you are still a veteran.

doesn't matter what anyone 'thinks'. The definition of 'veteran' is military service not combat service. It's stolen valor to say otherwise, in this case an attempt to steal the valor of those who service and just didn't happen to serve in combat. (and I can wear 1AD on my right shoulder in case anyone wonders)

Veteran and combat Veteran are not the same thing. If you served, yeah- you can call yourself a Veteran. You can't control where you are sent or what mission you may be assigned. You could volunteer to deploy multiple times and never get to do anything more exciting than sit in the TOC. Conversely, you can try to get out of deploying, be a complete shitbag, and wind up spending most of your time outside the wire; a Soldier has a limited ability to control what he winds up doing in theater- or even if he gets to go to OCUNUS.

If you served, you earned it! End of damn question!

I spent a total of 15 years serving this country, 6 on active duty with the Army the rest with the Chair National Guard. I was stationed at Ft. Drum when the towers fell. In all of that time I was never once in a position to deploy, even though I desperately wanted to. So I have a hard enough time dealing with that but I am still damn proud to call myself a Veteran.

By definition (depending on where you look) a veteran is someone who served honorably during their military service. Most deem this to be with a discharge of honorable and general in nature.

This is the broad term everyone uses these days but you still have focused veterans such as: Vietnam Vets, OIF Vets, OEF Vets, etc.

Bottom line, if you volunteered, did your part and got out in good terms you are a veteran. Combat has nothing to do with it.