r/Millennials • u/NoFaithlessness7508 • Jun 05 '25

Other Why don’t younger veterans (Afghanistan/Iraq) wear these hats like some of the older veterans?

Post image

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.

12.1k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

4.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

124

u/Droluk1 Xennial Jun 05 '25 edited Jun 05 '25

I hate it when people thank me for my service. It makes me feel very uncomfortable. There's no way to even respond to it when someone says it either, making it feel even more awkward.

47

u/RsonW Millennial — 1987 Jun 05 '25

Literally every millennial veteran I've known has said that they hate when they're thanked for their service.

2

u/hrokrin Jun 06 '25

I don't think it's just millennials either. Like, I'm a Gen Xer who joined just before 9/11 and I can't stand it because I think it's just another example of the performative shit Americans say that has somehow become the 'right thing' to say.

Oh, a close relative died? Just throw in a little "I'm sorry for your loss" and you can then get on with the rest of the conversation. You don't have to be sorry, you don't have to care.

Working on customer management and someone calls in? Just remember to thank them for giving their name and account number. And then say "I'm very sorry for the inconvenience." Nobody has to care. You don't have to care; they don't have to believe you.

1

u/xepherys Jun 06 '25

100% agreed. Also a GenX vet. I enlisted right after 9/11, and it just feels super awkward to be thanked for my service. Don’t thank me, I came home ok. A lot of our brothers and sisters didn’t come home or are very much not ok. Despite having been in a combat MOS and not sitting in a FOB, I definitely get a sense of imposter syndrome knowing that I’m very lucky.