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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Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 358
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SMSgt Michael Carl
Only a small percentage of WWII veterans ever saw combat. Yet we honor all who served during that time as a WWII veteran. There is no veteran status difference for those who served during war or during peacetime. They served. And for those who served during war...there is still a small percentage of those who actually saw combat to those who didn't...yet they all served and did their share of the task. To answer the question of specificity on whether one can refer themselves as a theater veteran (IE: Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, IRQ, AFG)....that is a reserved right for those who were in theater whether they saw combat or not. But a simple Veteran status goes to all who served honorably regardless of in-theater or in garrison in the US.
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Crazy question because all veterans were offended. The answer is "Of Course." Although I was deployed to the Middle East three times between 1991-2005 in combat zones, I would still have considered myself a veteran for my time in service from 1980-1989 before I was deployed to any conflicts. Those were the years that the rest of the world did not want to mess with the American Vet.
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SGT Glenn E Moody
i did my time 1981 to 1987 and the closest i came to combat was reforger 1985 we left the US for Germany
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I had to block alot of Marine Corps facebook pages because i would end up in arguments every time i heard anyone without a CAR(Combat Action Ribbon) was a pogue poser. Disparaging my service because i served in the 90s where there werent many conflicts is a disgrace to our uniforms. I only say im a Persian Gulf Veteran so they know which era i served even though i was at MOS training while my unit was deployed to Iraq. I always fall back on the old Marine addage "Your approval is not required."
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SGT Glenn E Moody
good for you it dosen't matter when you served it only matters is that you serviced thank you for your service
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Should there be an extra title for someone who joined after the conflict has already began??? Or someone that was drafted??? I think the veteran title ultimately boils down to money in the way of the VA. It doesn't make a persons service any less important/selfless.
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SGT Glenn E Moody
i don't get anything from the VA. because i was only in the Army National Guard on my uniform it said U.S.ARMY not National Guard it only said that on my papers but i still don't get anything from the VA. the only thing i get is to call my self a veteran and only because i have a DD-214 from active duty basic training the rest of my time is on my NGB-22
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Someone who served honorably, in our armed forces, is most definitely a veteran. This is a volunteer opportunity that anyone can get off their ass and do. Some choose not to. That is their decision. We have made ours.
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While they are not a Combat veteran, they are still a veteran. Service to the Armed Forces gives them this title. Even if they have not served in a forward element, or gone to war, they have served.
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Insulting isn't quite the right word. Obviously you equate veteran with combat. Many veterans weren't given the "option" of combat or non-combat. The requirements of military service dictate where and when one goes. I didn't see combat but I consider myself a veteran. Why you ask? I earned that FUCKING right by signing the dotted line. I gave my country a blank check payable up to including my life.
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I feel I'm a veteran because I sworn an Oath and wore the Uniform. My unit in the Nation Guard went to Iraq I didn't. I have never asked for any benefits and I show respect to all the veterans combat and non combat alike. I went in as a ROTC cadet when I went in and I was given and E2 ranking at separation.
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what one may consider combat another may not. The soldier who dealt with something terrible, or even went in when there was no war. They are a veteran too. There are a lot of people who couldn't/wouldn't/shouldn't cannot enter the military. There are not too many old vets left and us 'younger' ones are here to carry that torch. You serve a little while, or a long while, a vet is a vet is a vet.
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Sometimes people are in MOS or billets that do not deploy. But the definition of a veteran is someone who served at least 180 days in uniform.
I wanted to deploy more than what I did in 22 years but only deployed 6 times. But out of 22 years of service I was on sea duty in a deplorable billet for over 11 years of it and spent time away from home port that was not countable as a deployment which would have equated to at least 2 more extended deployments.
You do what you are ordered to do. As I told my folks who got out after their first term, "whether or not you did 4 years or 24, always be proud of your accomplishments and don't let anyone tell you that they were insignificant. You have done what more than 90% of your fellow citizens chose not or were too scared to do. Always look back at how you have grown during this time."
I wanted to deploy more than what I did in 22 years but only deployed 6 times. But out of 22 years of service I was on sea duty in a deplorable billet for over 11 years of it and spent time away from home port that was not countable as a deployment which would have equated to at least 2 more extended deployments.
You do what you are ordered to do. As I told my folks who got out after their first term, "whether or not you did 4 years or 24, always be proud of your accomplishments and don't let anyone tell you that they were insignificant. You have done what more than 90% of your fellow citizens chose not or were too scared to do. Always look back at how you have grown during this time."
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