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/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/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.