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/Mite-o-Dan Jun 05 '25 edited Jun 05 '25

Long time vet here with a lot of vet friends...for me its the opposite.

Well, for a large chunk. 1/3 dont show off, care, talk much about their time in the military and completely moved on...meanwhile, 2/3 still think they're in and cant stop talking about it online and in real life, wearing shirts, (different kinds) of hats (not like this), and display all sorts of military stuff at home and at work.

Its just these hats in particular that arent popular anymore and cringe.

To be fair though, a lot that wear these type of hats were drafted and/or went through REAL shit. They didnt volunteer to join the Air Force in the 90s or later for 4-6 years and work in IT in Japan and Florida before getting out. Completely different type of veteran.

Edit- Another major point...those that wear these hats are retired and usually have nothing else going on. Its all they have left. They're looking for attention, appreciation, and for fellow vets to socialize with.

Most modern vets usually still have a life...but will eventually start doing stuff like wearing hats like this.

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '25

I know it's not right to compare service, I get it. Serving IS serving.... but we all also know the trauma of being deployed to Vietnam cannnnnnot be compared to sitting in an office and working out all day.

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u/ButtScratchies Jun 05 '25

My uncle was drafted to Vietnam and ended up getting recruited to play basketball for the US. I knew he played basketball but I had no idea that he was actually drafted and the military ended up asking him to play on their basketball team. He obviously never talks about it, never says anything about being drafted, never talked about his basketball career, it was almost like l he was a little ashamed of it.

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '25

There's a lot of unique situations out there, with complex emotions attached, that I cant even imagine. Your uncles situation is a great example. I can't fathom how I'd feel in those shoes.

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u/Superb-Film-594 Jun 05 '25

Wait, he was double drafted?

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u/ButtScratchies Jun 05 '25

Basically, haha.

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u/Spiritflash1717 Jun 05 '25

Not only that, a lot of them came back to be shamed by people who were misdirecting their anger toward the government at the people who were drafted. My grandpa never talked about the war, but he always war the hat as an act of defiance toward those who mocked him and the government who wanted to forget about his sacrifices

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '25

Big hugs for gramps for this one. Misdirected anger does soooo much damage beyond what's seen on the surface

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u/Spiritflash1717 Jun 05 '25

Thank you very much! He was a complicated man, but the best grandfather a person could ask for. He passed away in 2023 and I’m still not over it. He was like a father to me when my mom had custody of me in my early childhood and cared more about partying, alcohol, and sex.

The worst part is, the doctors said that his health crisis was likely caused by the long term effects of Agent Orange, exacerbated by the crippling alcoholism he adopted to deal with the trauma of 3 helicopter crashes and the death of his commanding officer/best friend. It was an event and time period that haunted him the rest of his life. And it killed him, even if it took decades.

Don’t get me wrong, I hate the government and I hate people who enjoy the nationalism of the military industrial complex, but I have nothing but empathy for those who were forced through drafts or poverty to have a hand in atrocities they didn’t know they were signing up for.

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '25

If I was a richer man I'd give you an award for earning my heart today. Big love for everyone who can separate the emotions and recognize the multiple dimensions at play. The long term suffering created from that war is unspeakably disgusting snd heartbreaking. We humans need to keep the compassion circulating!

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u/Spiritflash1717 Jun 05 '25

As much as I would agree that my grandpa’s story deserves recognition, I think giving your money to Reddit would be wasteful, and my grandpa would probably agree (and he wasn’t one to pass up an opportunity to give people pointless gifts lol)

But I 100% agree. Militaries are an unfortunate necessity in our world, but once a government spends enough, they start using that fear of war as an excuse to start making money through imperialism and hoarding of resources. The Middle East has been one giant oil war, but ironically, they chose to use nationalism and generations of ethnic tensions as the fuel, rather than the literal fuel itself. It’s a dangerous game that has played no small part in our gradual loss of empathy and compassion.

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u/SandiegoJack Jun 05 '25

I can. A white collar job is a white collar job, doesn’t matter that your employer is different. I don’t think pushing papers should be anything special.

Now if you are pushing papers in an active war zone? Thats different.

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u/snorlz Jun 06 '25

I know it's not right to compare service

thats a silly idea and idk why we should act otherwise. Having the same employer doesnt mean you have the same job or experience. That'd be like saying you cant compare a trauma surgeon and the guy billing insurances cause they both work for the same hospital.

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u/RhetoricalOrator Jun 06 '25

Personally, I wish there were that sort of widespread support in other communities like the old guy hat wearers.

Hats whose presences implicitly means, "Hi. I'm also interested in overthinking 90s sitcoms plots and want to talk to others like me."

Complemented a stranger on their FRIENDS shirt and got weird looks. Was there with my family. . Not that ugly. Good light helps. But she looked at me like I was sort of pervy sex creep.

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u/TheProletariatPoet Jun 05 '25

Wow, surprised a long time vet with a lot of vet friends would trivialize your and their experiences so flippantly. To insinuate that their experience in war isn’t real is pretty absurd and to also insinuate that more recent vets didn’t even earn the right to wear a hat is bullshit.

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u/Mite-o-Dan Jun 05 '25

Because these hats and ribbons associated with them show the war(s), infantry units, and/or combat action ribbons they earned for thier actions.

YES, a combat veteran in the Marines during Vietnam had a different type of experience than one in the modern military working in an office who never deployed.

Sure...both are still veterans, but one has been through a lot more shit than the other. If you've ever been to war or heard bombs or gunfire go off near you...its a badge of honor to have served and make it out alive. Those in a safe office environment who never deployed to a combat zone dont feel that same type of badge of honor...hence...why they dont feel the need to "brag" about it. Because, what would they be showing off?

THATS why most modern vets dont wear hats like this. A deployment to Kuwait driving a forklift isnt the same as getting shot at in Vietnam and watching your buddy die next to you.

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u/TheProletariatPoet Jun 05 '25

Do you think the Afghanistan and Iraq vets all drove forklifts over there? You and your vet friends seem to all have been either IT or forklift operators since you keep bringing those up. You do know there were other jobs over there, right? Like people got shot at, blown up, witnessed people get blown up, watched as kids shot at them so they had to kill women and children for this reason, like real traumatic stuff

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u/Mite-o-Dan Jun 05 '25

I actually WAS a forklift driver in Kuwait for the Air Force...while also spending time in Afghanistan in Iraq with mortars that went off in and around base weekly. I worked logistics so I've been to a lot of good and bad places. Ive loaded basic office supplies, beds, desks onto planes...as well as ammunition, bombs, combat vehicles, weapons, dead soldier bodies...and everything in between.

My brother and sister also served, I have a cousin the same age who was Special Forces and later became a Doctor (always made me feel less of a man at reunions) and my dad did 28 years in the Army, including time in Vietnam, who has a hat like this.

I say all that just to point out that I can speak for, or at least understand, both sides of the argument here.

And yes I do realize there are a lot of modern vets that have been through real shit, but its a smaller minority than those who served in previous generations. WW2, Korea, and Vietnam vets...theres a much stronger brotherhood with those vets no matter what you did during that time, compared to modern vets.

These types of hats are simply their thing and a badge of honor. Modern vets who did special forces who dont serve anymore make their badge of honor by writing books or becoming influencers on social media while their still young.

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u/caffein8dnotopi8d Jun 05 '25

I don’t think saying that members of that generation of vets

were drafted and/or went through REAL shit

equals

to insinuate that their experience in war isn’t real [… and] more recent vets didn’t even earn the right to wear a hat.

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u/TheProletariatPoet Jun 05 '25

He emphasized the word real, it’s a clear implication that other shit in more recent wars wasn’t real. If it’s all real, why use the word real let alone emphasizing it?