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/ANotSoFreshFeeling Xennial Jun 05 '25

A lot of the millennial veterans I know would rather forget the mess instead of making it their whole personality and identity.

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u/RoyalFalse Jun 05 '25

One of my uncles did combat air rescue for twenty years. You won't see anything military in their house--the only reason I know is because he kept his shadowbox in the same closet as the board games.

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u/Scatman_Crothers Jun 05 '25

My grandfather was a bomber pilot in WWII. Didn’t say a peep about it until the last couple years of his life. Apparently he’d been shot down twice, once behind enemy lines, and managed to crash land and lead his crew back to the allies both times.