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
Posted in these groups: 
Military service
Purple Heart
Military service Purple Heart
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 358
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As others have stated, you don't always have a choice as to duty stations. You go where they send you. When I finished up at armor school at Ft.Knox in 71 we were told they were no longer sending tankers to Nam so we were sent elsewhere and I wound up in Germany. even thou I had so called jungle training at Ft. Lewis. Luck of the draw.
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Would it satisfy ABSOLUTLEY EVERYONE if there were two categories of service people when referring to them, veteran or combat veteran? Yes, no? I think that is done anyway in a very casual manner when vets get together and commiserate on their service years.
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I served 13 years in the ARMY National Guard Military Police and I AM A VETERAN AND NO ONE WILL CONVINCE ME DIFFERENT SO WHAT IF I NEVER SAW COMBAT OR HAVE A PURPLE HEART I STILL SERVED MY COMMUNITY,STATE, AND NATION AND IF CALLED UPON WHICH I WAS THEN TOLD TO STAND DOWN WITHIN A WEEK OF SHIPPING OUT TO GRENADA I WOULD HAVE PROUDLY AND FAITHFULLY GONE AND SERVED MY COUNTRY IN BATTLE HOW DARE YOU INSINUATE I AM ANY LESS OF A VETERAN OR NOT A VETERAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Read the history of how the PURPLE HEART came to be why President George Washington felt it was needed in the first place.
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I've served twice.... First during the cold war, USAF, as an Air Cargo Specialist shopping supplies to those in need worldwide. If it could hold a pallet, I've loaded it (now except the C17, it wasn't operational yet!).
Then during the GWOT in the National Guard as a UH60 Repairer. I spent 2005 in Kosovo on a peacekeeping mission, which was designated a combat zone, although I never saw "combat". It is annotated on my DD214, and on my disability records.
Then during the GWOT in the National Guard as a UH60 Repairer. I spent 2005 in Kosovo on a peacekeeping mission, which was designated a combat zone, although I never saw "combat". It is annotated on my DD214, and on my disability records.
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My father actually put boys on ground although his Naval record did not show it, as his assignment was ship duty. This was confirmed by letter from his CO as he got his disability due to agent orange.
Peer his CO's letter, although he was assigned ship duty, he carried top secret documents from the ship to shore of several occasions, which were never made part of his record.
Our family was never aware of this until his Alzheimer's got so bad that he was not aware that he was telling us top secret information...
Peer his CO's letter, although he was assigned ship duty, he carried top secret documents from the ship to shore of several occasions, which were never made part of his record.
Our family was never aware of this until his Alzheimer's got so bad that he was not aware that he was telling us top secret information...
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If you served during time of conflict or otherwise does not matter. You served where so many would not. This alone qualifies you as a veteran. As some feel they didnt earn their right because they were not grunts, it takes a minimum of 7 individuals to support one grunt in the Corps while deployed. Your all the same part of that unit, otherwise he or she would have been sitting at joke woth absolutely no way to get in the fight. As the saying goes all Marines are rifleman first, im sure the other branches carry the same thought process. So yes in answer to tye question if youve served your a veteran.
P.S. when I took the oath to protect the constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic it did not come with the addendum of until your discharged or for the length of my term of service. I would ruck up today if needed. Semper Fi!
P.S. when I took the oath to protect the constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic it did not come with the addendum of until your discharged or for the length of my term of service. I would ruck up today if needed. Semper Fi!
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I am a Combat Veteran. It should be reserved for only Combat Veterans. Not some trainees who have less TIS than my boots AND slick sleeved. We earned our Veteran status. Not those who never even deployed. But that's just my opinion... I'm just a Combat Veteran. What do I know
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There are veterans and combat veterans anyone that serves in theater is a veteran and anyone that serves in combat and actually pulls the trigger is A Combat Veteran . Can't claim combat veteran if you never been in combat ..there just veterans
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