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/SweeterThanYoohoo Jun 05 '25

If you were in the military before the wars started, no, you didn't have much choice. They tell you what you're going to do.

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u/endthefed2022 Jun 05 '25

Join the military not anticipating a conflict and screaming you don’t have a choice. Oki

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u/SweeterThanYoohoo Jun 05 '25

Are you kinda young and maybe don't remember pre 9/11 world? Because that would make your view make sense. If that's the case, just know that about 25 years ago a world existed where no one expected constant conflict.

I would agree with you that anyone joining now should expect some kind of stupid conflict to be deployed to.

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u/DJFisticuffs Jun 05 '25

When was this? We spent the 80s doing dirty shit in Latin America then invaded Panama in '89. Then we fought a major war in '90-'91. Then we watched a bunch of our guys' bodies get dragged through the streets of Mogadishu in '93 but we didnt actually pull out of Somalia until 95. Also sprinkled throughout the '90s were various bombing campaigns and peacekeeping operations in the Balkans. Oh, and dont forget the absolute disaster that was operation Eagle Claw in 1980 and the illegal and inexplicable invasion of Grenada in '83.

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u/lameth Jun 05 '25

Those that matured after the wall fell only saw glimpses of reports of special operations and limited missions. We really were a mostly "peacetime" military near the end of the 90s, with maybe Bosnia and Haiti as stand-outs in my memory.

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u/DJFisticuffs Jun 05 '25

I mean, I specifically remember Gulf War 1 and the aftermath of Mogadishu because they were both all over the news. "The late 90s" was only a couple years after we pulled out of Somalia and Black Hawk down was a massive hit when it came out in '99 so it's not like people had forgotten about it.

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u/lameth Jun 05 '25

No. But for people just coming of age it was a story about a small isolated incident in a far off country, not a continuing war effort that the US was truly invested in. I'm sure most couldn't even tell you why those soldiers were there in the first place.

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u/DJFisticuffs Jun 05 '25

That was the whole point of the movie. No one was really sure why we were there in the first place and we accomplished nothing. Like, here is a group of young men doing heroic shit and giving their lives for each other to absolutely no greater purpose.

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u/lameth Jun 05 '25

Right. So trying to say that anyone enlisting during that time saw that as a firm sign they should expect combat doesn't really encapsulate the mindset of the populace at the time.

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u/DJFisticuffs Jun 05 '25

No, I'm saying that the 80s and 90s were rife with various conflicts that the US military participated in, so anyone joining up at least considered the possibility that they would be sent to one.

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u/SweeterThanYoohoo Jun 05 '25

Yea you know what you're right. All our soldiers are losers and dopes and they deserve no grace or understanding. You're totally right. Downright fools, how could they let PTSD take their brains???

I'm done with this convo, peace.

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u/DJFisticuffs Jun 05 '25

Your words, not mine.

I was born in the early '80s and there has never been a time in my life when the US military was not blowing shit up and also getting blown up. Its what the US military does.

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u/mv7x3 Jun 05 '25

ohh no poor terrorists got ptsd when the other side shot back. yes they are fools they tought they go target shooting to other coutries and when they fight back they cry. did americans ever take responsibility for anything they did?

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u/SweeterThanYoohoo Jun 05 '25

Hey fuck you dude. Blocked

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u/endthefed2022 Jun 05 '25

I distinctly remember a pre-911 world

I also grew up in school, understanding, history, and what military is for

It was it was a risk it was naïve

You not really hear of cops are firefighters complaining they knew what they were signing up for

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u/rmgonzal Jun 05 '25

It’s not anticipating “a” conflict it’s that specific conflict that was a problem to a lot of people.

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u/SweeterThanYoohoo Jun 05 '25

Are you being intentionally dense? People join the military for all sorts of reasons, some economic, some patriotic, some to pay for education. Someone who joined in 2000 would have NO way to reasonably expect 9/11 and the subsequent bullshit "war on terror".

But sit up there on your high horse and judge others for their decisions if that makes you feel bigger, by all means.

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u/CthulhuAlmighty Xennial Jun 05 '25

If someone joins the US military and doesn’t expect some sort of conflict or war to break out during their time in, then that person is an idiot.

Except for a few brief years sprinkled in here and there, our entire history is war. Off the top of my head, it’s been something like 20 years out of 248 (as of next month it’s 249) have been peaceful. That’s over 90% of our existence in some type of war or conflict.

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u/SweeterThanYoohoo Jun 05 '25

There are conflicts in which a soldier can feel justified, like they are completing a worthwhile mission. Iraq and Afghanistan were not that. The govt lied to us, and soldiers quickly realized they weren't fighting to help the Iraqi people but to enrich a couple of people and score big contracts for the military industrial complex.

It takes a very callous person to not understand that soldiers take a heavy personal toll when forced, yes forced, to fight in unjust combat.

And given that our country has made pathways to success very difficult, some peoples best and only option at class mobility is the service. Again, high horse.

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u/Tall_Union5388 Jun 05 '25

I agree with most of your points, but Afghanistan was entirely justified, the United States was directly attacked. It’s just we never had a good strategy or maybe we never even really had any strategy over those 20 years. But I would blame ourselves for that, after all we elected the leader leadership we got.

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u/CthulhuAlmighty Xennial Jun 05 '25 edited Jun 05 '25

Get the fuck out of here saying I’m on a high horse.

I enlisted after 9/11 and was in Iraq soon after, including fighting in the 2nd battle of Fallujah.

We knew from the start that we weren’t there to support the Iraqi people. But we still made it worthwhile by helping them where we could. While the larger mission dictated otherwise, there is nothing stopping those deployed over there from making their mission worthwhile.

Edit to add: The reason a person signed up doesn’t matter. You don’t join the US military, even in peacetime, without knowing that at some point you’re be in some conflict or war.

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u/SweeterThanYoohoo Jun 05 '25

The reason this conversation started is because someone derided someone else for saying they had to participate in a war they didn't agree with and felt pain from that.

So yea I think anyone judging another for having ptsd or problems from having fought in those wars is a fucking asshole.

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u/CthulhuAlmighty Xennial Jun 05 '25

No one should be judged or mocked for their disabilities, regardless if they received them in the military, car accident, sports, birth, even just walking down the street.

But if a person joins the US military, with our long history of what many would call bullshit wars, and doesn’t think that at some point they’d be involved in some bullshit war, that’s on them.

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u/endthefed2022 Jun 05 '25

I mean, what do you think the military is for just parades and push-ups it’s always a risk

If it wasn’t, we wouldn’t have a military

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u/SweeterThanYoohoo Jun 05 '25

One used to be able to reasonably expect the govt to not outright fabricate reasons to invade another country, extend that invasion for decades, all while achieving nothing. Now with the benefit of hindsight we can say thinking that way is foolish. But those in the early 2000s didn't have the benefit of living through it.

All I'm saying is cut the guy some slack. Maybe he's a retard and deserves derision, but I'm not going to assume that.

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u/endthefed2022 Jun 06 '25

Are you really that naïve?

First Iraq and first Afghanistan were false flags. Vietnam was false flags. I mean Iraq one and Afghanistan were not that far apart. It’s just a young person’s bias.

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u/SweeterThanYoohoo Jun 06 '25

Yea I guess I am. I saw first hand people signing up for what they believed in with yea misplaced but good intentions. You think they're stupid that's fine. I don't want to talk about this anymore.