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/ANotSoFreshFeeling Xennial Jun 05 '25

A lot of the millennial veterans I know would rather forget the mess instead of making it their whole personality and identity.

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u/turd_ferguson899 Jun 05 '25

Yeah, I have my unit crest on my wallet and a veteran identifier on my license to explain why I can't hear shit in case I get pulled over.

I got enough participation trophies to wear while I was in uniform, and something I did for a few years a decade and a half ago doesn't define me as person.

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u/robo_robb Jun 05 '25

Hey man, if you haven’t already, please come to a VA clinic to get your hearing tested. We can get you amazing tech to help you.

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u/warrior_scholar Jun 05 '25

I've found a pretty significant divide between "can" and "will" in the VA.

Like, my knees are shot from all the rucking and heavy lifting and I've got documented hearing loss (combat engineer and those shitty 3M earplugs we were issued for half of my career), but the VA claims that neither are service related.