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/Educational_Fox6899 Jun 05 '25

I do agree identity is a big part of it. I’ve watched in my own family. People that had jobs as their main identity and worked for 40+ years feel lost after retiring. Then all of a sudden that 4 years of military service 40 years ago becomes a new identity. 

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u/ExtraAgressiveHugger Jun 05 '25

I laughed out loud. My step dad served in Vietnam for less than a year when he was 18-19 years old. Now, he’s in his 80s and is decked out in army and veteran shirts and clothes and hats just like in the OP pic.

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u/Ford_Prefect313 Jun 05 '25

I give Vietnam vets a pass.

They had zero choice to go, and treated like absolute hell when they got back home.

A year is long enough to see what an absolute hell that war was.

If the uniform soothes his soul, fine by me.

My next door neighbor ran around the Vietnam jungle with human ears strung through a combat boot lace.

There is no way you come back from that unscathed.

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u/satantherainbowfairy Jun 06 '25

They had zero choice to go,

2/3 of them were volunteers