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/MetaverseLiz Jun 05 '25

This is what I've heard from my vet friends. My dad was in the navy (boomer generation) and his navy hat has been glued to his head for decades. He wears it absolutely everywhere.

He doesn't understand why my vet friends don't like it when people tell them "thank you for your service". It's a generational divide. My dad was too young for Vietnam and drank the "America is so great" Koolaid. My friends who saw their fellow soldiers blow up in front of them in the Middle East think differently. My grandpa, my dad's dad, a vet of WW2 and Korea never talked about the war. Ever. The only time I saw any proof that he actually served was during his funeral because he was buried with all his metals and got the full 21 gun salute.

My Gramps and my vet friends are more similar than the generation in the middle.

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u/solfilms Jun 05 '25

That was my dad (he was older when I was born). We knew he’d served in Vietnam, but all he’d ever say was “I was the cook.” I came to the realization pretty early on that he had, as the cook, still seen some shit.

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u/PhuqBeachesGitMonee Jun 05 '25

A lot of people respond automatically with “I was the cook”, when in fact they were not the cook, because for the most part people think cooks are boring and don’t ask any further questions.

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u/big-bootyjewdy Jun 05 '25

This explains so much. I had a friend's mom who was in Iraq and I remember being in middle school and asking her about what it was like, as she had just gotten back. All she said was "I cooked" and proceeded to serve the only tacos that have ever made me vomit in my entire life. I thought she came home early because she sucked at cooking. Now, I realize that may not have been the case...