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

As a son of a WWII Navy veteran (long deceased), he served during Korea and Vietnam, he was on a ship that supported all services on the ground. I believe that all that served deserve to be called veterans. I served for 10 years, put out on a medical injury in 1989, if not for that I would have gone into combat after 9/11 and would have without hesitation. Every one of us signed on the dotted line to die for our country...period. Be proud, keep your head up as you deserve the Veteran title.

I think the broader point is that the military tends to teach us to compare each other, based on rank, deployments, schools, etc. Even the VFW denies entry to those of us who didn't actually go to combat zones. when we meet each other in public or where-ever, it's an unspoken judgement if one person went to war but another did not. Veterans judge each other even among veteran groups- and some veterans and even those still in uniform actually criticize or denigrate someone's service as less if that person, especially an officer, didn't deploy. That's been my experience ever since active duty and retirement from the ARNG, even though for many of us, we weren't even ALLOWED to do certain things, we weren't ALLOWED to have certain experiences, thru no fault of our own.
While this is an older post, the conversation still resonates today. especially today.

I'm very careful to identify my service as a "Vietnam ERA Vet", since I served that era in the FRG, not 'Nam. VIETNAM VET, I consider valid only for those who served in-country or on support vessels in combat.
I wear a ballcap for "COLD WAR SERVICE" with a divided-Germany patch.

If I remember correctly only 30 % of the troops serve in combat roles while 70% work in support. They are all VETERANS.

Anyone who served and has an honorable 214 can rightfully call himself/herself a veteran. But attaching the war or theater to the phrase means you served there. I served a year in Vietnam in a medical battalion, not a combat role, and I am a Vietnam veteran. If I had only served in CONUS, I would be a “Vietnam era veteran”.

You raise your right hand and pledge to go wherever they send you. Some veterans didn't honorably complete a full enlistment, some came home in a flag draped casket.

I was infantry. And I was never more happy to see a chopper or vehicle pick me up, repaired equipment, clean laundry, hot chow, a working radio, or functional weapon. If there was any skip or failure in the system I couldn't do my job. I always thanked the support staff that allowed me to do my job. WE ARE ALL VETERANS!

Yes, I speak as a Vietnam Era member of the USCG. Somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 of my recruit company went in theater, I was held over for class A school. About the same number from my A school also went in theater, because I was number 2 in the class, I was held over for a C school. Coming out of there I was number 1 and got my choice of billets. One was in Alaska, a place I had always wanted to go, so I chose that. When time came for me to rotate, Vietnam was winding down and not many were going over. I used to feel a bit ashamed, but as I have gone through life and seen what various vet buddies went through, I now see it as the Grace of God that I did not go.

I said that to say this, we all signed on the same dotted line. Had my naval battery tests not been off the charts, there's a good chance I would have been one going, my ranking in boot came was middling at best. Had I not proven to have a knack for my rating, I might have gone ... had I chosen a different path ... I could have been me struggling for years with the after effects of AO and other things like an old Coastie buddy of mine. I still lost hearing, have significant tinnitus from the constant roar of fans and a range accident, as well as diabetes, kidney, and liver damage due to exposures in the military.

So yea, I stand up and do it proudly, and park in Veteran's reserved spots where available.

When you say I do your a veteran when you serve in combat you’re a combat veteran

Feel free to bash me for being unfair, but I think you deserve the title "veteran" once you've honorable served the minimum amount of time in your contract. Some people would say you're a veteran once you finish 20 years and retire, maybe wounded in combat, or even the minute you sign your contract.