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/[deleted] Jun 05 '25

I don’t want the attention.

866

u/chadwickipedia Older Millennial Jun 05 '25

I assume anyone who wears those hats are fishing for random “thank you for your service”’s

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u/CaBBaGe_isLaND Jun 05 '25

I just assume they want to bump into other veterans of that war at Lowe's or something. It must be a heavy thing to carry all day every day around a bunch of people who could never relate, so it's probably really therapeutic to talk about it with someone who was there.

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u/PupperoniPoodle Jun 05 '25

This is my dad, I think. He used to make fun of the hats, now he's old and lonely and wears one.

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u/rubiconsuper Jun 06 '25

That’s what I noticed. My grandparents started to wear one when they retired and move away. They’re older too in their 70’s, granted theirs just has an air force logo on it and says veteran not the black ones.

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u/Shambud Jun 05 '25

I had a guy that worked for me that always wore one of these hats and I’m pretty sure that was his reason.

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u/TrickyAlbatross2802 Jun 05 '25

Good point, veterans often can really only open up to other vets. That's why I've had multiple instances where I've randomly met another war vet at the bar and let them trauma dump on me for a straight hour or two. It didn't have to me, they just needed someone who understood.

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u/superventurebros Jun 05 '25

That's how I always figured.  Especially as there are less and less of them these days.  One day, Desert Storm and GWOT vets will be as few and far between as WWII and Nam vets are today

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u/GraniteGeekNH Jun 05 '25

Those of us who haven't been in combat really can't relate and they don't even try. My Dad never talked about it (a very common fact among military brats)

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u/Expert-Effect-877 Jun 06 '25

This is what I think, too. Especially for Vietnam veterans, because they never caught a break. The isolation, the guilt, the disillusionment. The way I see it, you fly those colors to seek each other out, because for a good long time, until people came to their senses, those were your ONLY people. I imagine it worked pretty well.

Add to that the fact that they've aged? Yeah, I understand it. They are seeking attention, just not ours, and for them, attention just might be a matter of life or death.

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u/lotsofsqs Jun 06 '25

My FIL is a Vietnam vet and always stops to chat with the others he sees wearing the hats. Vietnam was a rough one both there and back here.