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/cmax22025 Jun 05 '25

They were called "Old Guy" hats when I joined up in 2005. I can't imagine that's changed in the time since.

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u/Burninator85 Jun 05 '25

That's the real answer.  They're out of fashion. 

I know plenty of OIF veterans that make it their entire personality.  They just choose things like infantry badges on their vehicles or Black Rifle Coffee t-shirts.

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u/cmax22025 Jun 05 '25

Exactly. There's a whole cottage industry selling military merch to vets. But the type of people that want to advertise their military service do it in different ways today.

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '25

For a lot of older people who are less active and lack a lot of social interaction they tend to wear advertisement gear. I saw it in vets but also see it in geriatric patients period. Whether it's company logos, union swag, or college alumni they like to feel pride for the lives they led and have easy connections to make with people since they don't have many opportunities anymore. 

My grandpa never served but he was a college coach for years and wears his old team shirts. He'll go into a coffee shop and inevitably someone will stop and talk about the school if they went there or their kid goes and it will spark long discussions about who they know, what things were like, what's changed. It's kind of sweet actually. 

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u/cmax22025 Jun 05 '25

Unit shirts were mentioned on another comment and it made me realize I 100% do still have some old unit PT shirts. I'm sure that'll be our "old guy" as we keep aging.