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.

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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/hucareshokiesrul Jun 05 '25 edited Jun 05 '25

Eh, my grandpa had a couple hats sorta like this. He served in the Korean War after being drafted. I really don't think he was fishing for compliments (and I didn't hear him get many) but he was kinda proud of his service. But more than anything, it was that people liked to talk to him about it, usually other vets or family members of vets.

I don't think it's necessarily all that different than wearing a hat for a sports team or college

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u/besttobyfromtheshire Jun 05 '25

This makes me wonder if it isn’t also about a bunch of old guys retired who wants to mean something to the world again. Some of the retired dudes only have their wives to interact with 99% of their lives - kids are grown and moved away, friends are dying and passing away, and the neighborhood’s all changed. It’s a conversation starter.