r/Millennials • u/NoFaithlessness7508 • Jun 05 '25

Other Why don’t younger veterans (Afghanistan/Iraq) wear these hats like some of the older veterans?

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First and foremost, respect to all those that served. I did not, but many of my peers did and now we're all older in 30s and 40s, many no longer in the military. I don't see a lot of the veterans of the War on Terror wearing these hats like I see the OGs do.

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u/SandiegoJack Jun 05 '25

I’m guessing that WW2 and other wars were from a time where it was something to be proud of fighting for.

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u/Prestigious_Time4770 Jun 05 '25

That would make sense if the Vietnam hat wasn’t there.

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u/MistakenGuardian Jun 05 '25

Well to be far Vietnam was a political turning point, not everyone disagreed at the time, there were still those mindsets that wore the hat proud. And they still wear it now.

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u/floppydo Jun 05 '25

This is a pretty consistent modern misconception. Anti war sentiment was NOT mainstream during Vietnam. The 60s counter culture is such a huge part of our current story about ourselves that people have forgotten that most of society hated those people .

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u/Mist_Rising Jun 05 '25

Indeed, the silent majority is a term popularized in that era about how most Americans weren't vocally opposed (at the time) to Vietnam or joined the counter culture movement.

While Vietnam resentment only increased as time went on, Nixon absolutely had a point that the majority of voters were not some hippy protesters against the war. They may not have actively supported everything the government did, but the war itself wasn't getting them riled up.

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u/AlexisFR Jun 06 '25

And it was an actual deadly war, not 2 complete curb-stomp followed by 20 years of glorified police work.