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 10 y ago
Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 368
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only 1% of the nation has actually served, everyone who served whether in overseas operations or to get us there or supported deserve to be called veterans.
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SPC David Hannaman
Military members serve where their branch posts them. If they don't see combat, that's nobody's fault. I wonder what the actual percentage of military members who have "boots on ground" combat experience is.
All my combat time was on a ship and I don't consider myself any less a vet because of that. Hell, the Combat Vets Motorcycle Association has very strict membership requirements and I meet them so I'm a member. Some of my brothers are Purple Heart, Bronze Star with Combat "V", Combat Action Ribbon, CIB, CAB, etc. recipients yet we're all equal brothers and sisters.
Military members serve where their branch posts them. If they don't see combat, that's nobody's fault. I wonder what the actual percentage of military members who have "boots on ground" combat experience is.
All my combat time was on a ship and I don't consider myself any less a vet because of that. Hell, the Combat Vets Motorcycle Association has very strict membership requirements and I meet them so I'm a member. Some of my brothers are Purple Heart, Bronze Star with Combat "V", Combat Action Ribbon, CIB, CAB, etc. recipients yet we're all equal brothers and sisters.
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SN Greg Wright
PO1 John Miller You're a vet in my eyes, PO1. It really chaps my keister when people who don't understand the daily dangers and hardships it takes to crew a vessel say something like this.
Soldier: "Oh you were on a ship? Safe and sound behind the front lines then?"
Sailor: "Yeah. When you trip and fall, you eat sand. When I trip and fall I fucking DIE."
Soldier: "Ok, sure, you might fall overboard, but really, what are the chances?"
Sailor: "Well, mechanical failure during a storm might kill me."
Soldier: "Oh, sure, sure, right, your'e exaggerating, now!"
Sailor: "Yeah? Ask the crew of the SS El Faro how that worked out. Or do you think that Mother Nature distinguishes between a 100k-ton container ship and a 20k-ton frigate?"
Soldier: "Ok, fine, but really, what are the chances of any of that happening to you, there, behind the lines?!!"
Sailor: "Dude...even the fucking COOKS have to deal with what the rolling of the ship does to their vats of oil. GTFO!"
Grrr.
Soldier: "Oh you were on a ship? Safe and sound behind the front lines then?"
Sailor: "Yeah. When you trip and fall, you eat sand. When I trip and fall I fucking DIE."
Soldier: "Ok, sure, you might fall overboard, but really, what are the chances?"
Sailor: "Well, mechanical failure during a storm might kill me."
Soldier: "Oh, sure, sure, right, your'e exaggerating, now!"
Sailor: "Yeah? Ask the crew of the SS El Faro how that worked out. Or do you think that Mother Nature distinguishes between a 100k-ton container ship and a 20k-ton frigate?"
Soldier: "Ok, fine, but really, what are the chances of any of that happening to you, there, behind the lines?!!"
Sailor: "Dude...even the fucking COOKS have to deal with what the rolling of the ship does to their vats of oil. GTFO!"
Grrr.
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If you took the oath and served, you are a veteran. You were prepared to deploy, if ordered. While some have had the opportunity to volunteer for specific missions/deployments, most of the time you serve where you were ordered, peace-time or war-time.
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SPC Robby Robinson
I have to disagree with you MSG, but mostly just by way of semantics. There are lots of folks who took the oath but washed out of boot camp. They most often receive an ELS (Entry Level Separation) and thus are deemed to have never served and should not be referred to as veterans.
Accordingly, if you took the oath, completed boot camp and were assigned to active duty / reserve / National Guard, you deserve the title of veteran
Accordingly, if you took the oath, completed boot camp and were assigned to active duty / reserve / National Guard, you deserve the title of veteran
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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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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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