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Within our community, the community of service members and veterans, we often hear people complain or perhaps make fun of those who decide to wear their “- - - War Veteran” hats or some piece of flair from their old uniform. Many people attempt to call out that wearing these things is an attention-seeking tactic; a passive-aggressive way of poking each person that you encounter in public and whispering in their ears, “Hey, I’m a veteran. You’re supposed to thank me for my service now.” But I want to contest this opinion, and offer you a different theory.
If you have not already figured, I happen to be one of those veterans that often wears a pin, or badge, or hat that signifies that I am, in fact, a veteran. Many a time, you will be hard pressed to find me not wearing something that is easily recognizable as something attributed to the military. I have a dog tag that hangs from the short chain on a zipper that is on my leather jacket. On another one of my leather jackets, I often have a “combat cavalry badge” (which I know is not a real award) pinned just above the left breast pocket. I also have my good ol’ DV hat that is laden with little pins.
Yes, I like to have a little something on me, but it is definitely not to call attention to my prior service. Frankly, I could not care any less if I ever get thanked. In fact, I am, more often than not, very uncomfortable when someone walks up to me and says, “Thank you for your service.” Like most other vets, I really don’t know how to properly respond. So, why would I walk around rocking a dog tag or badge on my jacket, or a pin on my vet hat? Let me tell you why...
Many of us have a difficult time when we leave the military. It is a stressful time. The life that you have known for many years is over. If you are anything like me, someone who enlisted directly out of high school and spent my entire adult life in the military (at that time), it is a horrible shock to the system when you are thrown back out into the real world. For a while, like many, I dove into a bottle and swam around inside of it for quite some time. I eventually climbed out of that bottle and began working to get my life back on track, but it wasn’t easy. What made me want to get back up and try to succeed was the memory of what I once was.
You see, I believed when I left the military that I lost a part of myself; like my identity had been stripped from me, like I was a shell of my former self. I no longer wore my sergeant chevrons, or my beret, or any of the uniform for that matter, so obviously I was no longer a soldier. However, after months of self-reflection, I came to the realization that just because my time in the military was over didn’t mean that I was entirely stripped of the title I had earned. I was still a soldier, I had earned that title years ago when I stood up at my OSUT graduation at Fort Knox, Kentucky. That couldn’t be taken from me. It just took me a long time to see this fact.
Even though I had come to this realization that I could still hold onto my identity, time passed and I got further and further from the last time I polished my shoes and made sure that those ribbons were exactly 1/8 inch above the breast pocket. It became easy to slip back into forgetting who I was. That’s why I wear something, anything, always on my person. It isn’t for the looks, it isn’t to ensure that I get my 10% military discount at Applebee’s, and it certainly isn’t for strangers to come and thank me. It’s a reminder to myself of what I have done, where I have been, and who I am. It is a subtle reminder that I am no longer in uniform, but I am still strong, still intelligent, and still destined for greatness.
So perhaps the next time you see someone, man or woman, young or old, regardless of their branch of service or the conflict they served in, and they are wearing something that you recognize, don’t automatically think that they are looking for attention. Maybe approach them and talk to them. Ask them what they did, where they served, when they did it. Maybe that conversation will go a long way and help remind them of who they are. I guarantee that it will make their days just a little bit better, and you might benefit as well from the conversation.
Just remember that you don’t know what is going on in that other veteran’s head. Perhaps the last thing they need is a brother or sister in arms looking down on them for simply being proud of who they are. Sometimes, we all just need a little reminder of who we are, and who we used to be.
If you have not already figured, I happen to be one of those veterans that often wears a pin, or badge, or hat that signifies that I am, in fact, a veteran. Many a time, you will be hard pressed to find me not wearing something that is easily recognizable as something attributed to the military. I have a dog tag that hangs from the short chain on a zipper that is on my leather jacket. On another one of my leather jackets, I often have a “combat cavalry badge” (which I know is not a real award) pinned just above the left breast pocket. I also have my good ol’ DV hat that is laden with little pins.
Yes, I like to have a little something on me, but it is definitely not to call attention to my prior service. Frankly, I could not care any less if I ever get thanked. In fact, I am, more often than not, very uncomfortable when someone walks up to me and says, “Thank you for your service.” Like most other vets, I really don’t know how to properly respond. So, why would I walk around rocking a dog tag or badge on my jacket, or a pin on my vet hat? Let me tell you why...
Many of us have a difficult time when we leave the military. It is a stressful time. The life that you have known for many years is over. If you are anything like me, someone who enlisted directly out of high school and spent my entire adult life in the military (at that time), it is a horrible shock to the system when you are thrown back out into the real world. For a while, like many, I dove into a bottle and swam around inside of it for quite some time. I eventually climbed out of that bottle and began working to get my life back on track, but it wasn’t easy. What made me want to get back up and try to succeed was the memory of what I once was.
You see, I believed when I left the military that I lost a part of myself; like my identity had been stripped from me, like I was a shell of my former self. I no longer wore my sergeant chevrons, or my beret, or any of the uniform for that matter, so obviously I was no longer a soldier. However, after months of self-reflection, I came to the realization that just because my time in the military was over didn’t mean that I was entirely stripped of the title I had earned. I was still a soldier, I had earned that title years ago when I stood up at my OSUT graduation at Fort Knox, Kentucky. That couldn’t be taken from me. It just took me a long time to see this fact.
Even though I had come to this realization that I could still hold onto my identity, time passed and I got further and further from the last time I polished my shoes and made sure that those ribbons were exactly 1/8 inch above the breast pocket. It became easy to slip back into forgetting who I was. That’s why I wear something, anything, always on my person. It isn’t for the looks, it isn’t to ensure that I get my 10% military discount at Applebee’s, and it certainly isn’t for strangers to come and thank me. It’s a reminder to myself of what I have done, where I have been, and who I am. It is a subtle reminder that I am no longer in uniform, but I am still strong, still intelligent, and still destined for greatness.
So perhaps the next time you see someone, man or woman, young or old, regardless of their branch of service or the conflict they served in, and they are wearing something that you recognize, don’t automatically think that they are looking for attention. Maybe approach them and talk to them. Ask them what they did, where they served, when they did it. Maybe that conversation will go a long way and help remind them of who they are. I guarantee that it will make their days just a little bit better, and you might benefit as well from the conversation.
Just remember that you don’t know what is going on in that other veteran’s head. Perhaps the last thing they need is a brother or sister in arms looking down on them for simply being proud of who they are. Sometimes, we all just need a little reminder of who we are, and who we used to be.
Retirement
Recognition
Service
Badges
Command Post
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 104
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I put on my full dress Blue Uniform of 2003, Medals and all for every National Holiday and it is not to call attention to myself but rather to honor those who served with me in Nam and did not come home, and for those like me came home with wounds of the mind, PTSD. The many veterans who also came home missing parts of their body, as well as still carrying pieces of metal in their bodies that were never removed. To all of my fellow veterans regardless of the war you served in, wear your uniform or even a part of it with pride, stand tall and stand proud. I SALUTE YOU ONE AND ALL.
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SFC Charles McVey Sr.
We who served in Nam do not often hear those words of Welcome Home unless from a fellow Nam vet, or the family of one. Thank You SFC William Farrell, and Welcome Home my Brother.
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I would agree Joseph. I see is similar to why I wear Michigan material - I am proud to have been part of that organization. I wear Army material all the time - because I am proud to have been part of the U.S. Army.
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I concur with your description 100% . I never thought about why I wear my military items till I read your article . It puts some things into place for me. I do also wear it to have that conversation with other veterans. I look back on those times and think " I really did all that, Wow. " no way would I have gone as far in life without my service. Thanks for putting into words what I always thought but couldn't explain.
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"Just remember that you don’t know what is going on in that other veteran’s head."
If we could all just apply this to everyone we came in contact with, the rest of what you said (which was great) wouldn't need to be said at all.
If we could all just apply this to everyone we came in contact with, the rest of what you said (which was great) wouldn't need to be said at all.
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If you want to wear it, wear it. Please. Our society needs to see it. The informal, unwritten, universal standards in our society have fallen of late. Those who served honorably do a further service when they set the example. Veterans are a minority among the population.
I have met several 20-somethings whose only perception of the military comes from action movies and video games. Those mediums tend to present members of the armed forces as folks who would have done well in the NFL draft or Olympic trials. Not being of the material that typically succeeds in a casting call for the next summer blockbuster, the aforementioned 20-somethings assume that this exempts them and their like from military service. They do not understand that the only difference between them and the vast, overwhelming majority of those who served, is that those who served raised their right hand, and these 20-somethings never did.
I also know 30 and 40-somethings that scoff at veterans, including myself (a service veteran, but not a combat veteran). They will express their doubts about the service of others or express theatrical shock and incredulity at the dissimilarity between the real-deal and what they see at the theaters. Those people (30-somethings and especially 40-somethings, my fellow Gen-Xers) who act that like are, I suspect, trying to compensate for their own inadequacies. (I can think of one guy - while on the subject of people wearing swag - who walks around in exaggerated tough-guy posture with an almost comic-bookish flat-top and drives a cop-car-lookalike. It's pathetic.)
I'm just a service veteran. Never got to go to war, but by the time 9/11 happened, my eyesight was on the fritz anyway. The hardest physical work I ever did was in the Army. My most important work-related responsibilities were in the Army. Now, years later, I can make a mistake and cost a company a lot of money, but back then I could have gotten somebody killed by making a mistake, even during peacetime (I've witnessed deadly effects of mistakes during live-fires at Pohakuloa and during rotations in the maneuver "box" at Hohenfels). Veterans who went to war, (I did not), held truly awesome responsibility - far more than most of the highest paid corporate executives of the business world ever have or ever will. Most of those veterans did it when they young. If civilians can wear their alma mater's swag and their sports team's swag, then as far as I'm concerned can any veteran.
I have met several 20-somethings whose only perception of the military comes from action movies and video games. Those mediums tend to present members of the armed forces as folks who would have done well in the NFL draft or Olympic trials. Not being of the material that typically succeeds in a casting call for the next summer blockbuster, the aforementioned 20-somethings assume that this exempts them and their like from military service. They do not understand that the only difference between them and the vast, overwhelming majority of those who served, is that those who served raised their right hand, and these 20-somethings never did.
I also know 30 and 40-somethings that scoff at veterans, including myself (a service veteran, but not a combat veteran). They will express their doubts about the service of others or express theatrical shock and incredulity at the dissimilarity between the real-deal and what they see at the theaters. Those people (30-somethings and especially 40-somethings, my fellow Gen-Xers) who act that like are, I suspect, trying to compensate for their own inadequacies. (I can think of one guy - while on the subject of people wearing swag - who walks around in exaggerated tough-guy posture with an almost comic-bookish flat-top and drives a cop-car-lookalike. It's pathetic.)
I'm just a service veteran. Never got to go to war, but by the time 9/11 happened, my eyesight was on the fritz anyway. The hardest physical work I ever did was in the Army. My most important work-related responsibilities were in the Army. Now, years later, I can make a mistake and cost a company a lot of money, but back then I could have gotten somebody killed by making a mistake, even during peacetime (I've witnessed deadly effects of mistakes during live-fires at Pohakuloa and during rotations in the maneuver "box" at Hohenfels). Veterans who went to war, (I did not), held truly awesome responsibility - far more than most of the highest paid corporate executives of the business world ever have or ever will. Most of those veterans did it when they young. If civilians can wear their alma mater's swag and their sports team's swag, then as far as I'm concerned can any veteran.
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It took me from 1976 until 2016 to feel comfortable to place my lightening bolts held in eagle talons, one of the patches for the US Army Security Agency. I'm proud I served in the now defunct elite branch. The motto was "vigilance always".
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SFC Orville Harless
Sorry it took you so long to be comfortable with it MAJ. I have several good friends, and golf buddies, back home at Fort Bragg who were originally with the ASA. They are 10 or so years older than me. I came in after the ASA days, but retired as a CI Agent with the MI Corps. The ASA never really became defunct, it was just given a new designation. Be proud that you were a part of a great organization! HOOAH!
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I am a big fan of my infidel patch on my hat and on my flight suit for work..the veterans I work with fully understand and the civilians, well that's another story. BLUF..unless you have walked the many miles in "our" boots, you can't truly understand why "we" do it..
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Well said SGT Gunderson! When I left active duty after 24 years, I had mixed emotions about it. However, with a son beginning college, and his sister to follow in two years, I figured we had experienced enough separations of the family. At any rate, I do wear a hat 32 years after my retirement, which identifies me as "Retired Navy". I am still proud of my service and prefer to encourage youngsters to investigate the potential for a quick 'hitch' or career.
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I totally get it and was one of those guys until I served at NTC and was part of the OC team. I met people there that changed my view of the military and as a whole how everyone was. The reason I bring that up because up until then I had no reason to wear the army swag... up until then. I'm proud to wear it now and can only assume that once I DD214 up Ill not forget where I was for 20 years and how much I owe to the deployments I was a part of and those who did not come back from them.
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Well said SGT Gunderson, I could not have said it any better, and I have been trying to think up my answer to that as well from someone I interact with regularly in town. You have summed up my feelings exactly. wearing my jump and AASLT wings on my hat or smock at work reminds me every day to just do the best job I can at what ever I am doing because I AM going to be one of the best at what ever it is I am doing. and also in part to honor those who went before and did not come home again, so for me, it is 2 fold reason. But again, well said and thank you for your service. (and when I have people thanking me for my service, I turn it around and thank THEM for providing me the equipment to perform my tasks with) try that one out sometime, share the feel good with them as well.
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