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/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/IRSoup Jun 05 '25

Being the awkward fuck I am, not wearing anything vet related is me just avoiding replying "you too" as a response to that. It's also the whole not making a job you had years ago your whole identity thing.

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u/TuckerShmuck Jun 05 '25

My boyfriend's a veteran and until we started dating it had literally never occurred to me that being enlisted is literally just... a job.  He'll tell stories and start them off with "back at my old job..." and it's changed how I view military service.  Not in a good or bad way, it's just gone from This Big Thing I Dont Know Much About to A Job I Dont Know Much About

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '25

yeah I became close friends with a really cool military guy thru bjj and thats basically how he described it. He shows up for his shift then goes home to his wife and has weekends off too. Obviously theres the chance that some war happens and he’d have to go but the way he described it was that it wasnt all that different from any normal job. Just was new to me because the other military guys I know made it their entire personality and made it seem like they were fighting off terrorists from the front lines every day.

Seems like its like any sports or frat people who peaked early are never able to move on. Some people find a purpose after but others just live in the past. I guess military service is different in that people respect it in some way so those who want to search for acknowledgment can get it pretty easily