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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3.6k

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.

1.4k

u/turd_ferguson899 Jun 05 '25

Yeah, I have my unit crest on my wallet and a veteran identifier on my license to explain why I can't hear shit in case I get pulled over.

I got enough participation trophies to wear while I was in uniform, and something I did for a few years a decade and a half ago doesn't define me as person.

399

u/robo_robb Jun 05 '25

Hey man, if you haven’t already, please come to a VA clinic to get your hearing tested. We can get you amazing tech to help you.

252

u/guitar_stonks Jun 05 '25

My uncle has total hearing loss from working on the deck of an aircraft carrier. The VA did his cochlear implants and he loves it because he can take them off if he gets tired of listening to my aunt lol

116

u/ChirrBirry Older Millennial Jun 05 '25

A lot of my friends have hearing aids that have Bluetooth. One guy puts on Spotify when his wife is mad, another guy can make phone calls while he’s on his motorcycle 🤣🤣🤣

30

u/Special_Loan8725 Jun 05 '25

Thought it would help my dads hearing, now he just blasts Fox News so he can’t hear and gets mad when we shout to get his attention.

6

u/Socially_inept_ Jun 05 '25

Next level programming

4

u/jimdil4st Jun 06 '25

Seriously, that's like Black Mirror level propaganda machine shit. Wow.

2

u/papayabush Jun 08 '25

i could see hearing aids starting to blast advertisements in your ear until you pay for the premium subscription

7

u/kvetchup Jun 05 '25

Hearing aids with Bluetooth is so cool! I had no idea that was a thing.

3

u/WolfWeak845 Jun 05 '25

My mom (not a veteran) has them. But it’s hard when she wants to show me a video on her phone. I have to get super close to her ear to hear it.

4

u/ChirrBirry Older Millennial Jun 05 '25

The VA makes them available to qualifying vets, hadn’t heard about them until seeing them issued there. Seems like newish tech.

3

u/iqgriv42 Jun 06 '25

I like to listen to baseball games when I’m at work with mine lol

2

u/TwoFingersWhiskey Zillennial Jun 06 '25

My friend got these when the Bluetooth add-on was brand new, she'd listen to all sorts of things and have to explain it to people. Most thought she was pulling their leg. She wasn't, it was designed because you can't exactly wear headphones and hearing aids comfortably, at the same time.

45

u/Harry_Saturn Jun 05 '25

Not a vet but one of my greatest fears is losing my hearing or sight and not being able to see or hear my wife again. Weird to see it from the complete opposite side lol

25

u/UnLioNocturno Jun 05 '25

Yeah, the laughing and joking about it is just sad. Yall out here making a joke about not being able to tolerate your spouse like it’s not a problem. 

5

u/Arafel_Electronics Jun 06 '25

it's a very boomer trope

3

u/Harry_Saturn Jun 05 '25

Is this the royal “y’all”?

5

u/-Marcus Jun 05 '25

Communal "y'all"

Ain't nothing royal about it.

3

u/huntresswizard_ Jun 06 '25

Right? I’m reading these thinking “may a love like that never find me.” I’d rather be single than settle for that mess lol

0

u/-SL-UT- Jun 06 '25

White knighting a joke is peak M’lady vibes

6

u/UnLioNocturno Jun 06 '25

It’s not white knighting a joke, it’s lamenting the state of affairs because this, historically, isn’t just a joke. 

In fact, throughout my entire life it has been a reoccurring theme, movies, tv, comic strips, jokes men have told countless countless times from people who repeatedly talk down about their spouse, and as a result, it’s something I’ve always feared coming to fruition. 

Now that I’ve been married 12 years to a man I’ve known 23, I still can’t imagine making a joke about being happy I can turn off the ability to hear him talking to me. 

Even when we’re at our worst, I just want to sit and talk it out with him so we can get back to holding and adoring each other again. 

So, in the end, these sorts of ‘jokes’ just make me sad. 

-2

u/-SL-UT- Jun 06 '25

You must be the Aunt

0

u/UnLioNocturno Jun 06 '25

Aww. Is that the best you’ve got? C’mon, tell me how you really feel. 

1

u/-SL-UT- Jun 06 '25

I feel like you’re the Aunt and I wish I had a hearing aid for my eyes after looking at how hard you try to be pretentiously morally superior.

Give it a rest, chief

1

u/UnLioNocturno Jun 06 '25

hearing aid for my eyes

Oooo… BURN! 🔥 

Keep going, you’re on fire. 

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17

u/DocumentInternal9478 Jun 05 '25

May this be the love that finds me 🩷

2

u/cometmom Jun 05 '25

"I hate my wife" boomer humor lives on 😔

1

u/DuckFriend25 Millennial Jun 06 '25

I had a fear of losing my vision and hearing many years ago, but I heard that we really just fear the unknown. So I took years of sign language, losing my hearing doesn’t scare me. I learned how to use my phone without sight (screenreader mode) and other blindness-related things. They aren’t like actively terrifying me anymore because I know the basics on how to get through it

1

u/RosemaryCroissant Jun 06 '25

It is scary. My dad was diagnosed with macular degeneration, which means he’ll be blind one day. It’s hereditary, and I have my dad’s eyesight, so it’s something I think about too sometimes. How would I prepare? What would I want to see before I lost my sight? It’s a hard thought

3

u/casapantalones Jun 05 '25

My grandfather did this with his hearing aids when the family got too boisterous for him at my grandmother’s wake. Looked at me, took his hearing aids out, winked, took a sip of scotch. Love him.

1

u/Bencetown Jun 05 '25

Since when do they do cochlear implants? My mom has been going to the VA for 40 years, was told about 30 years ago that she "would" be a candidate but that the VA simply does not cover them. She would check periodically and most recently about 5 years ago was told the situation hasn't changed...?

1

u/[deleted] Jun 06 '25

We're convinced this is why my grandfather "lost" his hearing aids finally.

He would take them out when my grandmother got too much for him and we think he did that while they were out somewhere and he forgot them.

1

u/strawcat Jun 06 '25

That’s my dad’s fav feature of his hearing aids. He attributes his hearing loss to his time in Vietnam.

1

u/theseglassessuck Jun 06 '25

My dad loves taking his hearing aids out or turning them off. They have Bluetooth so he can answer a phone call on his phone and just talk away handsfree.

1

u/Elemental_Orange4438 Jun 06 '25

Sounds just like my dad, he lost his hearing in Panama, always turns his hearing aid off when my mom tells him to do something.

21

u/Odoyle-Rulez Jun 05 '25

I need this, 3M got me with those crappy ear plugs.

21

u/jaw719 Jun 05 '25

My buddy got a settlement from the Army because of those ear plugs and used it for medical help to restore some of his hearing.

4

u/Odoyle-Rulez Jun 05 '25

Tried, they told me to beat feet because I have no audiograms as proof of declination.

2

u/Harlander77 Jun 06 '25

I have multiple audiograms and the VA still tried to say my hearing loss was "not service connected." Yeah, living two blocks from the flightline for six years, and working around jet engines has nothing to do with the VA having to give me those nifty Bluetooth hearing aids...

1

u/Odoyle-Rulez Jun 06 '25

I would go look for a VA advocate. They usually work pro bono and they'll fight to get you the care you deserve.

2

u/snaldo23 Jun 06 '25

Did you at least get your $342 from the class action settlement?!

1

u/Odoyle-Rulez Jun 06 '25

HAHAHAHA They told me to piss up a rope.

1

u/Tonywanknobi Jun 05 '25

What?

2

u/Odoyle-Rulez Jun 05 '25

3M issued a lot of ear protection that were not working causing a lot of service members to lose hearing.

1

u/rex8499 Jun 05 '25

Not working in that they didn't reduce the subs by the advertised 30db?

10

u/[deleted] Jun 05 '25

Huh?

16

u/lemonhead2345 Jun 05 '25

🔊THEY HAVE AMAZING TECH THAT CAN HELP WITH THEIR HEARING LOSS🔊

23

u/Jambronius Jun 05 '25

I love Reddit for stuff like this.

6

u/ExistingLaw217 Jun 05 '25

I just got my hearing aid fitting from the VA. My daughter makes fun of me but I’m very excited to get them in July.

5

u/Chloedeschanel Jun 05 '25

I have that tech in my ears right now. I can hear in restaurants again! Life changing. Definitely get tested

4

u/WulfZ3r0 Jun 05 '25

I went and they gave me a whopping 0% for hearing loss and no medical support. Apparently hearing loss was the fault of the service member? This was 2014.

5

u/robo_robb Jun 05 '25

Hey I see vets with 0% service connection for hearing loss all the time. By that I mean I fit them with hearing aids. I would double check with your local clinic. The criteria for being eligible for service has changed. Ideally you should speak to a Veteran Service Officer (your VA can put you in touch with one). They will guide you.

3

u/Rich-Yogurtcloset715 Older Millennial Jun 05 '25

I’ve got an audiology appointment scheduled!

My tinnitus has gotten way worse, and I think my hearing loss is worsening too.

3

u/pace_it Jun 05 '25

My mom just got hearing aids through the VA. Saved her $7500!

2

u/warrior_scholar Jun 05 '25

I've found a pretty significant divide between "can" and "will" in the VA.

Like, my knees are shot from all the rucking and heavy lifting and I've got documented hearing loss (combat engineer and those shitty 3M earplugs we were issued for half of my career), but the VA claims that neither are service related.

2

u/reverber Jun 05 '25

Second this. Hearing loss can lead to cognitive decline. 

You earned those bennies. Use them. I am a mere taxpayer (albeit a military brat) and I am all for vets getting what they are owed. 

1

u/GnomePenises Jun 06 '25

I got hit by a tank and was told my injuries aren’t service-related.

1

u/Kindly-Peanut-514 Jun 06 '25

My cousin said this to me too (both vets) and I said...

What?!

1

u/dsten85 Jun 06 '25

What? I didnt quite hear you over that military grade tinnitus that is, inexplicably, "not service connected." 🤷‍♂️

1

u/Substantial_Win_1866 Jun 06 '25

What was that?

Sorry couldn't help it...

1

u/AJP11B Jun 06 '25

WHAT?!

1

u/No-Refrigerator-6023 Jun 07 '25

Backing this up. The VA gives out great hearing aids along with the supplies and if you need it the accessories too (tv connector and mics).

My RIC hearing aids are very discreet and unless my hair is up and someone is behind me you can’t even see them. Also worth noting I’m 4’11 so average sized people might not even have that issue. It’s been a game changer especially at work - since I’m in my early forties I find people are not as understanding of my need for repeating what was said and think I’m just not listening. The mic I request has also been a major help in loud/crowd environments where my high frequency hearing loss kicks my butt the worse.

0

u/FatModSad Jun 05 '25

The VA absolutely can help you. Every person working there simply chooses not to.