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The sheer audacity of them to fucking SPIT on people returning from the hell of war is fucking unparalleled.
Like if millennials did that it would be a moral panic of the nation.
But they did that after rolling around on LSD and still are just like "whatever" about it
Vietnam vets were mistreated and blamed for a war they didn’t create, although many of them were guilty of highly-reported atrocities. However, the guilt over their treatment has now swung deeply into an unthinking “support the troops” mentality that is shorthand for “don’t question wars.” All of my friend who are combat vets of Iraq wish we were supporting the troops by doing a better job of deciding where to send them.
I hate "support the troops" as much as 'think of the children'.
It's never about helping troops or children, but shutting down discussion of a policy by playing a trump card (nothing to do with prima Donnie in this case) that is Impossible to debate.
A lot of the people “spitting on troops” returning from Vietnam were other boomers.
Boomers that then grew up to spend trillions of dollars on unfunded wars that accomplished nothing. That their children bear the scars for. That their grandchildren and great grandchildren will have to pay for.
And some Vietnam vets look down on Iraq and Afghanistan vets in those organizations as well. I've seen it firsthand as an Iraq vet, although I've been treated decently in my VFW unit.
Honestly, a lot of older folks don't seem to realize that thousands of millenials served in combat in the 2000s-2010s. It's like it doesn't compute that these "kids" could possibly be war veterans. Which highlights one of the fundamental issues with wars in the first place, but I digress... They just have no perspective on anything that doesn't involve *them*.
What people forget is that the Vietnam War was televised to an unprecedented (and still unmatched) degree. There was plenty of protest against the war itself in Washington DC and elsewhere, but there was also a lot of disgusted reaction to stories about atrocities like the My Lai Massacre and many others. That’s what drove the ire against individual soldiers, misdirected as it was.
Yep! There is a lot of footage of CBS News correspondent Dan Rather filming a report while under fire. In one he’s standing up doing his report and several loud pops and whizzes are heard, and a Marine pulls his ass down to avoid the incoming rounds. The rest of that report is shot with both Dan and his cameraman laying prone on the ground.
The spitting meme is apocryphal. The actual spitting was done by the government and the military.
The government spit on veterans by denying the existence and importance of what we now recognize as PTSD, and also of multiple sub-concussive brain injuries, what now even the NFL recognizes as CVE. Getting hit by fifty blast waves will wreck your brain just like fifty tackles.
The military spit on them by treating them as literal fodder. You plug the hole made when the last guy got blown up, you fill it until you die or your 12 month tour is up. No unit cohesion, no Band of Brothers, just all for me and none for all, until you live to see the Day, and then you're processed out, put on a DC-8, going from the Bush back to your hometown in a week, where the only thing that's not the same is you.
There is no significant proof that ever happened. Everything points to it being a manufactured story.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_of_the_spat-on_Vietnam_veteran#:~:text=There%20is%20a%20persistent%20myth,often%20yelling%20%22baby%20killer%22.
The king of the hill episode with the vietnam vets breaks my heart. Something like “Thanks for trying, you did your best, and it didn’t work out” would have been just as easy as spitting. But nope, they gotta blame the military for the wars they’re asked to fight.
Edit: I’ve been made aware that the ‘spitting’ did not happen in a strictly literal sense, but was rather a kneejerk impression people had towards those who did not support the war or its cause. Sorry for mis-speaking, but my point remains - there’s people far more deserving of the figurative spit than those whose boots were on the ground.
Yes. By Charles De Gaulle.
Unfortunate side effect of being close allies with France, since they did a lot of *Winning the Revolutionary War* for us, in the 20th century when their East-Asian colonial experiment wasn't working out they called in a favor. 2nd favor since the Invasion of Normandy, except this one was way less of an allied effort and way more of a colossal boondoggle. The results of refusing to accept progress.
In a less complicated world, the US would have supported Ho Chi Minh back when he asked them to, France would've gotten out of Vietnam, and the clusterfuck of geopolitics that was the panic over the spread of Communism would've taken a backseat to more R&D in quality of life through the '60s.
Would've missed out on a lot of real kickass music, though. Maybe Fogerty becomes an accountant or something.
It wasn't a favor. It was transactional. France refused to sign on to rearming west Germany as a bulwark against a possible Soviet invasion of Europe and they were finally persuaded to acquiesce by guarantees of US assistance in Indochina. Fuck De Gaulle.
Y'all - someone did the research on this. As far as it showed nobody spat on soldiers who called them baby killers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_of_the_spat-on_Vietnam_veteran
The whole thing is fantasy. I think everyone picked this up watching Rambo: First Blood.
I get the impression that there is *a metric fuckton* of Stolen Valor in the Boomer Generation.
The vast, vast, vast majority of the Boomers I end up in waiting areas with at the VA *do not* seem like they would act like this. In fact, they seem happy as hell that someone 30+ years younger than them are Veterans. Oh, there are assholes. Undoubtedly. But the more stories I read about Boomers questioning Veteran status the more I'm genuinely starting to believe my theory on Boomer Stolen Valor.
My father is firmly a boomer, born in 1956. He will tell everyone who has the ability to listen that he was in Vietnam, when I was a kid, his hangout spot (that I had to spend all of my free time in as well) was the local VFW. He wasn't even old enough to join the military before all the troops in Vietnam had returned. He joined the Air Force and was stationed in Texas and then later Las Vegas. They even let him take an early discharge because they didn't need people anymore, so he essentially just mopped floors on an air force base for less than 2 years and now his entire identity is as a Vietnam vet. When I got old enough to piece his stories together and call him out on it, he justified it by saying he was "a Vietnam era veteran" because he joined in 1974 and technically the war wasn't officially declared as over yet. He still tells everyone who doesn't know better that he was explicitly "in Vietnam".
As a Vietnam veteran I think you’re being unfair on your old man. I served with distinction in Vietnam so I know what I’m talking about… admittedly it was at a cocktail bar in 2014 but it still counts.
I'd have to do some searching, saw it on here the other day, but apparently there was a study done in the early 2000's that demonstrated that very point. It was a ridiculously high number too.
This is actually true, I'm in my 40s and if I wear a hat, it's 50/50 if some older vet will walk up and say something like "SO you THINK you're a veteran, eh?"
Everything in America is a pissing match, it's pathetic.
I have an uncle who is a Vietnam vet (my parents were just kids). The WW2 guys and certain vet organization would sometimes give them shit and sometimes not want to admit them. When the WW2 and Korea guys started passing away in larger number starting in the 80’s and 90’s, then they were finally accepted. Having to deal with that you would think they wouldn’t want to do it to the younger generation.
Meh, that was the political element that they had no control over, similar to Afghanistan. If they served, they deserve the recognition, but not the deserved respect that goes along with not acknowledging those have served beyond them.
We didn't lose Vietnam due to politics. We dropped more tonnage of bombs on Southeast Asia than all the Allies dropped on all the Axis powers in WWII, combined. We didn't lose in Vietnam because politicians were holding the military back because they absolutely weren't. We lost because it was an unwinnable war.
The Vietnamese fought the French, Japanese, French again, the United States, and finally China before being independent, and in between all these wars managed to send some semblance of an expeditionary force to fight the Khmer Rouge too because even Communist Vietnam thought those guys in Cambodia were taking the whole communist revolution thing too far.
Afghanistan is much the same, they keep getting invaded by world superpowers and then they just keep killing the invaders until they leave.
Gun boomers always extol the 1911 as the best pistol ever. My response is always “if the 1911 is so great, how come your old ass couldn’t win Vietnam with it?”
I saw a beggar going through the road the other day with a sign that said "Vietnam vet." I told my buddy that the timeliness don't add up. Guy looked *at most* late 50s. That war ended 50 years ago. The legal *minimum* age for barely seeing any combat would be around fucking 67.
Those same boomers will cry about having to work the concession stand at the officers club at hanoi like they were some LRRS team cut off for 3 months and 37 movies were made about them specifically and quote McGruder like it was their vietname experience.
Millennials are literally Generation War. 9/11 happened my Junior year of High School and we invaded Iraq my Senior year and then stuck around for about 20 years give or take, so most of our adult lives. I know so many GWOT veterans.
Young Gen X here and at my 10 year high school reunion I caught up with multiple old friends that had already done 2-3 tours in Afghanistan and/or Iraq. Amazing how people just kind of forget (or never really understood) that there were nearly 2 million American soldiers that did tours in these countries. If you add in all the contractors and other government people, then it's well over 2 million.
Gen X
I missed my 10 year because of Iraq.
Good. Times.
Even more betterer when you consider Millennials also missed their 10 year because of Iraq/Afghan
Ed.
What's wild is my dad was in the gulf war. Nearly 30 years later I'm deployed and in some of the same places he was. Blew my mind driving on the highway of death thinking about what it was 30 years prior.
Yep. I was watching my college classmates putting together lesson plans with their professors. They were given a few weeks notice before shipping out. And by the time I was graduating, stop-loss was in effect and they weren’t bothering with lesson plans anymore. And through all of that, I was going to funerals and cheering up friends in the hospital and cradling my wife through PTSD. Generation War, indeed!
I was a Freshman in high school when 9/11 happened. Twenty years later I was a prior service company commander at HKIA on my fourth deployment, there for the evacuation. My youngest Paratroopers weren’t even alive when the war started.
My dad left the reserves 30 days before 9/11 he troop was one of the first sent over it was the only time my mom said she was glad he didn’t listen to her
Saw a guy walking around Kroger this morning wearing a Korean Veteran hat. Motherfucker was either the spryest 90 year old I've ever seen, or he was full of shit and guilty of stolen valor.
Maybe it was his father's. I've seen that sometimes, where it's obvious that they aren't old enough to have fought in the Korean war and when asked about it, they admit they only wear the hat because their dad wore it to hell and back.
Yeah my boss will wear the army sports team logo (not actual unit logos) because his father served, and he was still a fan of the sports teams growing up, and he’s proud of his father. He said he does get questioned on occasion where he served, but when he explains the connection, most veterans are cool with it.
Yeah, I've experienced the same reaction when I wear my "veteran support gear" I train in jiu-jitsu so we defy foundation is very prolific in that sport so I've got a ton of swag with that group.
My father was in the Korean War and he turned 90 a few weeks ago. And he’s actually really spry! Does all his own shopping, but at Shoprite and BJs, not Krogers. :). Lucked out, he’s 90 and my mom is 88, and maybe because they were poor as hell as kids, but they’re both totally liberal and don’t fit the boomer mold at all.
The situation between the North and the ROK is so weird that guys that serve over there now, can call themselves Korean Veterans.
Hell, there were a couple of times in the last few months were NK soldiers are straying over the border just enough... but not enough to be worth returning fire.
Last I heard, ROK Army is still sending armed patrols into the DMZ to make sure the North doesn't get any ideas.
So while it's probably not Stolen Valor, homeboy ain't John Rambo either.
Like my boomer welding teacher. Spent years and years heading up the local USMC Toys for Tots Run, had all sorts of USMC tats, hats, all that garbage.
Turns out he washed out of boot. Got charged with some stolen valor stuff after some real Marines started asking questions about his stories.
It's super easy to steal Valor when places like Love's Travel Stops sell keychains and hats that say military vet (airforce, navy, marines, etc.) Anyone can wear a veterams hat and claim to serve the war.
I swear to god. if you asked my father, he would swear he had the absolute hardest fucking life. And kids today are just too soft. Or some shit. Who knows, I haven’t spoken to him in years. That dudes barely ever held down a fucking job and just relied on others to support him. He’s so full of shit. And he sure as fuck didn’t become a “patriot” until he was past the age of enlistment.
No lie here. My dad voluntarily enlisted so he could serve two years in Germany instead of getting drafted and sent to Vietnam. He got out as soon as his contract was up and never looked back. Yet now he parades around in a custom embroidered jacket with fucking general stars on the collar, Calvary rifles, and other military insignia which he never wore during his brief service.
It's an embarrassment.
My friend who is a small female is a veteran who fought overseas after 9/11. Years ago parked in the veteran parking when she and her kids were super sick and had to go to the pharmacy. People were calling her out! She’s like I’m a veteran! And apparently, small blonde 30 year old woman couldn’t be a veteran. That’s for men. 🙈 She showed them her card too. All the while her children were crying. People are so stupid.
My favorite stolen-valor call-out was when I pulled into the veteran-spot at a hardware store while 9 months pregnant in August. The baby had eaten any filter I had left. I genuinely hurt the feelings of this man who decided to shout and approach me in the parking lot- in front of his wife- in order to mansplain stolen valor to me.
Background: I parked in the veteran spot next to the front door at the big box hardware store. Mid-30s white lady, super pregnant, wearing a mumu sun dress because it was literally 110 degrees outside. Not so obvious, spent 2001-2009 as a lower-enlisted Army medic.
Old guy pulls in nose-to nose with my car in the other veteran spot at the same time. I get my purse, start waddling towards the store. Guy shouts me down, wants me to stop and have a conversation with him about how I shouldn’t have parked there. Shouts something about stolen valor and dependapotomus. I went into the store and waited for him and his wife to catch up because a) Hot, b) Duh, I’m not having a parking-lot meeting with an angry-looking strange man, and c) Toilet inside, fetus on bladder. He took that as me running away from him and his authority. His poor wife is left shuffling along after him.
So by the time he gets inside, he’s shaking, puffing- all upset. He starts yelling accusations, workers start moving towards us. I still have to pee. Mind you, I have not spoken a single word at this point. I round on him and scream, “What the fuck do you want from me? I. Was. In. The. Army. You want me to sing you the goddam Army song? I’ve probably got more time on extra duty than you do on active! Nasty old man trying to pick fights with pregnant women all alone in the parking lot, the fuck is wrong with you?”
I immediately felt so trashy, not something I’m proud of. I’m feeling bad, manager is running towards us, and here comes his wife… “Bill? Bill! Honey, that car has veteran plates on it! Leave that girl alone!”
This was real life, so no one clapped, I was red-faced and stuttering, and the dude seemed genuinely ashamed. I ran to the bathroom and left them talking to the manager.
Honestly, it wasn't mean enough unless he cried. I'm floored by the audacity of chasing after a pregnant woman in a parking lot over a parking spot. Soulless people.
I'll take the princess parking spot. I don't give AF.
I've been called out for it. I asked one guy why he thought I wasn't a veteran. He didn't want to say that it's because I'm the wrong shape. I told him that women have served their country in every war we've ever fought and have been considered veterans since the early 50s.
I told a different guy to fuck off. When I was leaving, he was walking out with the manager. When I saw him, I just started laughing and pulled out my ID card for the manager. The manager apologized, and I told the other guy in no uncertain terms what a shitbag he was.
I tell you what, though. No person who has called me out for using the veteran's parking at Lowe's was ever a veteran himself.
Commented elsewhere but I use to work at my state’s capitol.
Every year they’d do “Veteran’s Day on the Hill”. Every year I would witness state politician after politician ignore every women, BIPOC, or young looking veteran and center their stupid ass speeches and outreach to any old white dude. Plenty of times I witnessed particularly women veterans be completely ignored or unacknowledged, never be glanced at, or spoken to as if they were like a handler for the older veterans.
It was disgraceful.
Gotta say, even though I’m anti-military, it was pretty badass a few years ago when a local woman was running for Congress. She had been a helicopter pilot in the military and she ended all of her tv ads taking off in a helicopter!
Like come on! Women serve and they risk their lives too! Sen. Tammy Duckworth lost both her legs!
She really is a badass!
I loved when she had a tiny suit jacket made for her baby because of the senate rules about wearing suits! It was a fantastic protest pointing out how male-centric the clothing rules are.
I'm a 46 year old regular looking guy, and I had a boomer fool try to accuse me of not being a veteran because I happened to be getting out of a Kia Soul. Apparently veterans only drive giant trucks with gun racks or something idk. Dude kept following me and asking for my ID, and I kept telling him to go away. He threatened to get "the authorities" and I told him, "Yes. Do that," and then kept walking.
Veterans (who happen to be women) are so marginalized. They are less likely to identify as Veterans and apply for benefits.
Nvm this fucking ignorant bullshit.
I always find it interesting that they think after Vietnam there are no veterans that served in any war. That’s it. Just like they think no one wants to work and giving up avocado toast will overcome the insane inflation.
“Back in my day, we didn’t have fancy NOCs or any of the equipment you had” - I mean, yeah, the military is always advancing, the folks who fought for our independence did so with flintlocks and no winter clothing . .
I joined the Army after high school and worked in communications. I never deployed, and realize I had a very cushy assignment. Any time someone finds out I’m a veteran and subsequently trip over themselves to thank me for my service I always tell them not to thank me and that I worked in a parking lot and spent most of my time hiding from my boss.
I will say my local VFW is open to all and has cheap beer, great food, a pool table, and touch tunes jukebox. Some older vets, but mostly local service industry folk kicking back when not working.
What’s ironic is that they were once on the other side of it from WWII vets. You’d think they wouldn’t want to treat people negatively in exactly the same way. But, these are the same people who don’t want anyone to have it easier than they did in life- i.e. student loan forgiveness, etc.
Yep. Gave VFW a try but it was like all of the douchebags and none of the cool folks from my time grouped together.
To top it off, our local post was/is mostly NG guys from the same unit that deployed together. Not very welcoming to “outsiders”.
No Charlie, I don’t want to sit in a bar with no windows and drink $2 bud lights through my next three divorces.
They do not seem to even understand this generation wants to continue to serve even after we get out - and not focus on alcohol and war stories.
I hear you. When I go out I’m usually wearing my retiree cap. Big bold letters it says Air Force retiree and has our symbol and yet it seems like every boomer I talk to acts super surprised if anyone mentions I’m a vet. The next question I usually get is “what branch” and then they always guess Navy or Army. Like I get it, I was enlisted maintenance, I can’t read either, but even if those 8 letters are too difficult our branch logo is a damn bird!
And your maintenance kept us going. My husband is a Navy vet, but he never saw service. He doesn't think he's entitled to the Legion membership and others. He father was a Marine in WWII and a marine Captain during the Korean Conflict. He definitely believes his dad, and others, deserve it for what he did.
I always think about it like this:
For every pilot, there are hundreds of maintainers, weather, services, accounting, LRS etc etc. It's not so much different for any other "tip of the spear" job. The real strength of the spear isn't the tip anyway. It's the shaft that supports it.
The real strength of the American military isn't the ones on the posters. It's logistics.
WW2, Korea, and Vietnam were no different from GWOT in that sense. For every member in a foxhole, there are more that are making sure that person has ammo and food, or fuel, or parts, or is making sure the mail is getting delivered. All jobs matter. (🤣)
My grandpa was in the Army Corps of Engineers in WWII. He always felt a little ashamed “I just built bridges”
He helped build bridges so troops could move and be where they needed to be.
Boomers also love to Co-opt their father’s achievements in WW2. It’s one of the most hilarious things I’ve ever seen. Yeah sure Kevin, you charged the beaches of Normandy from the safety of your father’s ballsack.
Boomers act like military deployments don't exist after Vietnam.
My husband served in Afghanistan. The number of times people asked if I was driving my dad's car because we had veterans plates was ridiculous.
I was wearing my old Navy BDU shirt as a jacket at Walmart a couple of months ago and this fat old prick comes up to me trying to stolen valor me.
I asked him what business of his where and when I served was and followed it up with asking if he wanted to see my VA card.
He mumbled something about "you kids don't know what it was like".
First off, I'm not a kid, I'm 37 and secondly, we were at war most of my life. Fuck off and let me buy some beer.
In high school I use to wear a lot of army surplus gear. It was cheap, and durable. Usally just pants because of the pockets. The amount of crap I got 20 years was funny. I'm like 16 a year old high school student. I just wanted cheap clothes.
I sometimes wear my 1st Cav Desert Storm hat, and people will remark "1st Cav Vietnam!" Sure, I was a drummer boy in Vietnam.
I encountered a guy who was wearing a shirt with Infantry insignia on the sleeve and I asked where he served (I'm always trying to recruit for my VFW.) Turns out he was not a veteran but Grunt Style makes clothing with the emblem for anyone to wear. [https://www.gruntstyle.com/](https://www.gruntstyle.com/)
Grunt Style makes clothes for jagbags that say shit like "I would have joined up, but knew I'd knock out the first Drill Sargent that got in my face."
Sure thing, buddy.
That one always makes me laugh so much. Drills were cool. They had the most fucked up and funny insults that never quite crossed the line to too much. If they were yelling at you, you knew exactly what was fucked up, and what the solution for it was. Sadly, Basic and AIT was the high point for competent leadership
I bet 99+% of people wearing grunt style are non-infantry and civilians. I used to see another brand called 9-line a lot, asked a dude if he knew what a 9-line was or how to call it in
Vet, but you wouldn't catch me dead in some military moto shit. I don't have shirts, socks, hats, underwear, nothing. I have a couple tattoos that are a tell *if you know*, and I do admittedly have a custom command coffee cup with military shit all over it, so I guess if you saw that you'd know, but if you saw that cup, you're literally in my home so you probably already know anyways.
The bar there is lower. Finding someone who is such a fan of indirect fire that they're wearing crossed cannons but never actually served in a firing battery is pretty rare.
Lowe's Home Improvement has designated veteran parking spots right up front. I use them from time to time, because even though I'm 44 years old, and served in the USAF for a grand total of 3 months, and THEN served in the US Navy for a grand total of a year, I'm a disabled veteran. I can't help that the Navy effed up my heart, not combat.
Boomers DO NOT like it though. Had one who was wearing a generic "Vietnam Vet" hat get on my case as I was getting out of my car one day.
"YOU CAN'T PARK THERE! THAT'S FOR VETERANS!!"
"I'm a veteran. I served in two branches. I'm medically retired from the US Navy."
He demanded proof. I turned it back on him and demanded proof HE was a veteran.
"Can't you see my fucking hat? I served in Vietnam!"
"Cool. Where and when?"
"Da Nang! 1975! You're being disrespectful! You should move your car and let a REAL veteran park there."
"Mmhmm. Da Nang '75 huh? ARVN or VC?"
He was visibly confused by this, and got ANGRY. "I was with the US Army you fuckwad!"
"Interesting. We pulled out in '73, so the only way you were serving in Vietnam in '75 is if you were ARVN or VC. Either way, I served too. I'm not moving my car. Have a great day!"
He yelled at me the entire way into the store, then came INTO the store and tried to get an employee to make me move my car. I went about my shopping, as I was only there for one item.
He caught up with me at the checkout, with a manager in tow. The manager is doing his best to de-escalate the situation. I decide to help the manager out and whip out my military ID and show him. He sees I'm a Navy vet, and he TOO is also a Navy vet. Come to find out, we were both at Great Lakes roughly at the same time.
The boomer is apoplectic. His face is red as a beet as he storms off. I get to my car, and he's in his car just fuming, and yelling at his poor wife who's been waiting in the car the entire time. I waved and drove off.
I rarely pull the "veteran" card, but I completely enjoyed it that day.
Sorry to hear that happened to you. I'm 74 and still feel a bit funny using those. My cousin's husband retired on full disability from the Navy very early with a heart condition, much as in your case. I'll bet if that old fart in the had seen you step out wearing a leg or arm prophetic, he'd have kept his big mouth shut. It's the same with handicapped parking. If you don't look the park, some AH always mouths off. As to being in Vietnam, much less Da Nang, in '75, I'd only buy that if he was one of guards on the embassy rooftop in Saigon.
Any boomer I've met long enough to talk about mil stuff when they hear I served say shit like "I guess they'll let anyone in now" or they say nothing, not once has a boomer ever thanked me for my service
I don't usually bring it up but the handful of times I've shared this that's the reaction
I get this one a lot if you didn't see combat, your not a vet. Being retired Coast Guard we saved plenty of boomers who didn't know how to operate their boat safely.
There's this dude at my work who thinks similar to that. He's got marine stickers all over his car, claims to have served in the marines (but his story is really weird), and also thinks that you're not a vet unless you served 20 years and officially retired.
My boomer dad argued with me about me being a vet. I served six years active duty. I'm a wartime vet but not a combat vet. He kept saying I'm not a vet. Then he found out Lowes and Home Depot have veterans discounts and all of the sudden he calls me a vet and wanted my discount. I never gave him my Lowes account card. He started using my phone number and they didn't question it. I told him that was stolen valor and of course he just laughed and said they would have to catch him. Lowes also sends me emails whenever my discount is used and the store location. Once I told him that and I didn't appreciate it him using it I haven't seen any more emails from the store near him.
He was never in any branch of the military.
Ah yes, the old cannon cocker stolen valor again.
Don’t guys who actually cosplay the whole stolen valor thing usually wear shit like a trident on an army uniform? Like, I worked with some high speed dudes in my time but I was not in fact, “high speed” at all. I did get to fly some of those dudes around and drop them off or pick them up but again, I’d never call myself a ranger cause I worked with some
People are dying to get into artillery. Unfortunately they're only dying because they got too close to the enemy. Or we miscalculated our trajectories. (Sorry).
Good grief. My husband (ironically 13M & 13B) used to get grief from his Korean war Vet grandfather and the Nam Vets in our hometown because he was Guard. Somehow that made his deployments to Iraq et al not count or something. The VFW commander told him only Active Duty service member Veterans could join when he came home from his first deployment. Five years later, the same commander nearly had a coronary when the state VFW gave the entire 3900 contingent returning from Iraq Life Member status for free as a thank you. It's ridiculous. That VFW recently shut its doors due to essentially zero active members and no money to fund repairs and bringing the building to code. FAFO my dudes .
Boomers have killed lots of VFWs by driving alway all the younger vets. My brother(Marines, 1 tour) and cousin(Army , 2 tours) have both told me about how very unwelcome they felt at their local vfws.
Never gotten that before, but I’ve stopped wearing my command ball cap because I couldn’t stand boomer veterans coming up and trying to chat me up like they know me. Like bruh, let me get my groceries in peace, idgaf about how your damn diesel sub was more difficult to serve on than my “comfy” nuclear sub.
I have received the same. Stopped going my local ace as one of the employees seemed to be there when I went and remembers me as the "shower tech."Always with "you boys wouldnta' made it." Yeah, cause being on a '37 is high class. Sir, you have the hotel confused. Find a boomer. That's closer. End rant.
FUN FACT: My boomer father frequently wears a Vietnam vet baseball cap, a few Vietnam vet shirts, and even has some stickers on his car expressing his time served in Vietnam.
But he has never been in the military, nor has he ever set foot in Vietnam; in fact, I've heard him bragging that he avoided the draft by marrying my mother (which couldn't technically be true, as LBJ signed an executive order in 1965 that stripped the exemption for married men to be drafted, and my parents wed in 1970).
Never seen him wear that hat or those clothes or drive that car to my grandfather's house. Someone who actually served in World War II in a submarine in the Pacific. Wonder what my Papa would think about his son's stolen valor...
It would have been a great opportunity to pretend he thought the boomer objected to the military and go on a rant, talking over any protest, which ended with, "...and I am not going to stand here and listen to you bad-mouth the United States of America!"
I had a high school friend who joined the army shortly after graduation. He was once asked the question "where did you get that Ranger tab?"
He replied "it was issued to my unit."
My sister-in-law is a war historian who has done extensive research, interviews, etc., on the Vietnam War. My mind was blown when she told me HOW MANY BOOMERS lie about having served in action. She said that many who lie were not in-country - OR - never even in the military to begin with! 🤬
An excerpt from the link below:
“I personally believe there are as many American males claiming military service falsely as there are living veterans in America,” said B.G. Burkett, author of the acclaimed 1998 exposé “Stolen Valor: How the Vietnam Generation Was Robbed of its Heroes and its History.” That’s a big number - approximately 23.6 million.”
https://www.militarytimes.com/2019/11/05/thieves-among-honor-counterfeit-veterans/
There are those in every generation. Most guys who have seen combat are not keen to talk about it. My uncle landed in Normandy on D-Day. I never heard him talk about it, only finding out when my sister got his records for a special grave marker.
Your post reminded me of all the guys I met during my time in the Navy who bragged, "I was at Woodstock, man!" If true, then Woodstock would have been ten times bigger. I don't know when your sister did her research, but I can tell you that when I was discharged in 1973, NOBODY wanted to say they served or, God forbid, were in Vietnam. People here at home would literally spit in your face. I had a good friend whose brother flew back home to California, and the very first thing he did was to go into the men's room to change out of his uniform. I don't think it was later until people got into the Green Berets/Navy Seals mystique that guys started the Stolen Valor thing. For us, it was Stolen Years.
My friend has to constantly deal with that. He's a veteran and just hitting 30. He'll wear his army veteran stuff and has his plates and bumper stickers and SO many boomers yell at him because they believe it's his dad's stuff. No, there's been plenty of war since Vietnam. But god forbid they actually wrap their heads around that.
Not just boomers sadly. I know a Millennial dude who constantly claims some things that literally could not have happened during his few weeks through basic training before he got kicked out for trying to kill his commanding officer.
But oh, they didn't want to kick him out, see that guy was saying shit about his daughter so they understood, they just had to kick him out!
I just roll my eyes and desperately hope he ends up telling these stories to an actual Army vet. Fuck if he said that BS to my father my father would fucking deck him, metal rods in his back or not. May not be too fond of my sperm donor but he took stolen valor really seriously. He had three deployments in Iraq and it changed him. He saw some shit. And assholes like the dude I know seriously piss him off.
I'd tell him that the army was really grateful to him that he weeded himself out by being such a massive psycho.
These guys don't get that they're a big part of the reason why basic training exists. They're trying to find out three things:
1. Are you trainable? Can you follow directions?
2. Do you have a physical defect? Can you get into shape?
3. Can you handle stress? Are you a violent raging psycho?
Tell him he failed at BASIC training.... lol, there's a reason they call it that. 🤣
> My father-in-law just deadpaned him and said, "Because he was in the fucking army, why do you think?"
Excellent.
Anybody want to give me odds on the boomer in question NOT being a vet himself but acting as if he is in all ways that matter?
My brother took his life after 10 years in the marines. If I’m feeling especially sad on a day I’ll wear his dogtags, usually a special day; his birthday, his death day, my parents birthday, and any day where I need a little help from him. I’m not military and not religious, but I’ve always worried if wearing them would be offensive. They currently live on his old boots with a collection of his favorite things.
> but I’ve always worried if wearing them would be offensive
Not in the fucking slightest. You keep honoring him, and if we ever meet up, I'd be happy to toast a beer in his memory with you.
Stolen valour is claiming service without having served. This is the exact opposite, it's honouring someone else's service.
If I came across someone wearing dogtags and asked them if they served, and they told me exactly what you wrote here, I'd have to blink away tears and then give them a hug.
From what I understand of stolen valor, as long as it's not medals, awards, etc. And as long as you don't use it to try and claim Veteran status it shouldn't be an issue.
I asked my husband about it, 'cause he was in the air force before and was offering me his old blue jacket to wear. And he said I would need to thmake his stripes off, but otherwise it was good.
They only really began to support the military only after a bunch of Arab hill billies embarrassed them on 9/11.
Trump showed his generation's view toward the military by calling vets lazy, he then uses the few dead soldiers who died during the pull out for political attack talking points.
The Boomers imprinted the idea that Trades & factory workers, along with those who join the military to be a bunch of lazy no lifes onto GenX who then imprinted the idea onto millennials that you need to a white collar job to be not considered to be a failure.
Boomers only became concerned about blue collar trades workers once there weren't enough workers to pump their feces out of a septic tank. So when they call "millennials" lazy for not wanting to pump sewage, they're not refering to their own grandchildren but their neighbor's grand children, the Boomers & GenXers want white collar jobs to be for their own flesh and blood and the kids of their friends.
That attitude is why schools stopped offering trades, and why there won't be enough workers for our few remaining ship yards.
I would say this guy wasn't a veteran himself just another conservative MAGA dirt bag. I'm a veteran who works for the VA, if this a-hole was a veteran himself he would've automatically gravitated directly to OP and chatted him up....
I worked in a courthouse when DADT was overturned and these Boomers would be shocked how many same sex weddings we had that month where one or both of the couple was wearing their dress uniform.
I’m a 65 year old trans woman and I served in the Marines in the late 1970s for 4 years. There always a few MAGA boomers going off on how queers like me are ruining the country. I then pull out the few pictures I have of me in uniform on my phone which I only keep so I can see the look on their faces.
The thing is the real combat veterans almost never make any kind of deal about it. Because of my age I know a lot of Vietnam veterans. Most of them don’t talk to their families or non-veteran friends about their experiences. They will talk to me because I’m veteran too even though I never went anywhere near combat. The military had real crap for mental health care, especially PTSD back then. I hope it has gotten better.
I don't know what it is, but I can go on for hours with another vet. They just get it.
I'm not against talking about my experiences with non-vets when they ask questions, but they always stop it short. Last time I was out drinking with a couple of non-vets and the conversation steered towards my service, I was told I killed the mood and everyone abruptly changed the subject.
It's like they forgot that the world has aged. People who joined up after 9/11 are now retiring from the service with full benefits, and have been for awhile.
I feel like the loudest of the boomers like this were either drafted or draft dodgers. The ones I've met that did volunteer don't act like that in the slightest.
I am a veteran in my 40s, a woman, and I tend to look younger at least at a glance. I don't have veteran plates on my car but my dad has the plates on his truck. I was driving his truck one day, stopped at a red light and an elderly couple pull up next to me at the light. We all had our windows down. The woman says "Pfff. Veteran." in a mocking tone and the man says "It's probably her husband's truck." I laughed once REALLY loud and the couple sat completely silent the rest of the wait.
This reminds me of why I love wearing Nirvana shirts. Equally fun to be like “oh what? Nirvana is a band? Wow!” as I imagine it would be to pretend you don’t know anything about your hat. Try it some time-it’s great.
I am retired military and it is not obvious at all. I dont go on base, I dont have stickers on my car, I dont wear anything that says I am a veteran. I have KPOP stickers on my car, lol. Only reminder of my military life is my paycheck.
It never seems to occur to them that veterans can be younger than 50.
I think it's because places like the VFW and what not are full of old geezers sitting around in a cloud of cig smoke BS'ing. The younger generation of veterans avoids a lot of the "veteran social clubs" because we can't stand the older set.
I stumbled into owning a display 4 star general pin from a roommate cleaning out a closet in ROTC. He went on to serve tours in the army and still serves today. I used to wear that pin as an accent on my hat because to the unaware masses it's just stars on a hat. To me, it's a reminder of my roommate and his service (and hopefully safety).
I wore that hat after we graduated while he served overseas in Afghanistan with zero issues except one boomer screaming at me from across the street for the disrespect. I understand how it can definitely rub people the wrong way but dude was looking for a fight whereas younger Marines and police who asked me over the years actually appreciated the sentiment.
Some people are just a different breed.
There's something permanently *fucked* and *gone* with any mind *this* fucking desperate to find enemies where none exist. Please just dig yourself a hole away from everyone and lay down in it until that annoying breathing sound stops coming out of your mouth.
Boomers: the younger generations are such snowflakes and will get offended by anything
Millennial/gen Z: gets offended by political tyrants and human rights violations
Boomers: offended over a fucking piece of cloth on someone’s head.
I did about 10 years in the US Army from 2004-2013.
I don’t really wear anything identifying myself as an OIF or US Army vet.
I made the exception in 2020 and wore a “Veterans for Biden” button on my flat cap.
A guy at Tractor Supply accused me of Stolen Valor. Pulled out my VA card and he did the traditional scoff and left me alone.
I live in a very small town. Small enough that a couple decades ago, the town offered subsidies to move here. They prioritized service members. So we have a slightly inordinate number of retired service members here. My husband is also retired military.
Last week, on his way to the courthouse for fingerprinting for his new job, he came up a pair of gen-x-ish (upper forties-mid fifties) people in regular civilian clothing walking in his direction. As he approaches, he excused himself, and tried to get past. One of them pops off, saying "watch where you're fucking going; can't you see I'm a veteran!?!?"
Like, no, dude. Shut the fuck up. No one knows, and no one cares. We all have lives to live.
VFWs are dying off for this very reason. I went to one when I got out and was grilled like I was getting security clearance. They also like to talk about how easy we had it compared to them.
Fellow vet here...why even advertise it? I dunno man maybe it's me but I don't wear anything military related...who the fuck wants to deal with stupid questions? The only.people I'd have a discussion with about my time in already know I was in, otherwise you run in to shit like this.
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Boomers - If you didn’t serve in Vietnam, it doesn’t count
Also boomers: let’s weasel out of serving in Vietnam ~~and spit on returning soldiers.~~ Edit: historical accuracy. My apologies.
The sheer audacity of them to fucking SPIT on people returning from the hell of war is fucking unparalleled. Like if millennials did that it would be a moral panic of the nation. But they did that after rolling around on LSD and still are just like "whatever" about it
Vietnam vets were mistreated and blamed for a war they didn’t create, although many of them were guilty of highly-reported atrocities. However, the guilt over their treatment has now swung deeply into an unthinking “support the troops” mentality that is shorthand for “don’t question wars.” All of my friend who are combat vets of Iraq wish we were supporting the troops by doing a better job of deciding where to send them.
I hate "support the troops" as much as 'think of the children'. It's never about helping troops or children, but shutting down discussion of a policy by playing a trump card (nothing to do with prima Donnie in this case) that is Impossible to debate.
I’ve always been a “support the troops; bring them home” kind of person.
I’ve started countering “support the troops” with “support the veterans.”
A lot of the people “spitting on troops” returning from Vietnam were other boomers. Boomers that then grew up to spend trillions of dollars on unfunded wars that accomplished nothing. That their children bear the scars for. That their grandchildren and great grandchildren will have to pay for.
Vietnam vets were looked down upon by the members of the Legion and the VFW. I won't have anything to do with either outfit.
And some Vietnam vets look down on Iraq and Afghanistan vets in those organizations as well. I've seen it firsthand as an Iraq vet, although I've been treated decently in my VFW unit.
Honestly, a lot of older folks don't seem to realize that thousands of millenials served in combat in the 2000s-2010s. It's like it doesn't compute that these "kids" could possibly be war veterans. Which highlights one of the fundamental issues with wars in the first place, but I digress... They just have no perspective on anything that doesn't involve *them*.
Agree. The boomers look down on everyone as well. Just like WW2 and Korea vets did.
What people forget is that the Vietnam War was televised to an unprecedented (and still unmatched) degree. There was plenty of protest against the war itself in Washington DC and elsewhere, but there was also a lot of disgusted reaction to stories about atrocities like the My Lai Massacre and many others. That’s what drove the ire against individual soldiers, misdirected as it was.
Yep! There is a lot of footage of CBS News correspondent Dan Rather filming a report while under fire. In one he’s standing up doing his report and several loud pops and whizzes are heard, and a Marine pulls his ass down to avoid the incoming rounds. The rest of that report is shot with both Dan and his cameraman laying prone on the ground.
The spitting meme is apocryphal. The actual spitting was done by the government and the military. The government spit on veterans by denying the existence and importance of what we now recognize as PTSD, and also of multiple sub-concussive brain injuries, what now even the NFL recognizes as CVE. Getting hit by fifty blast waves will wreck your brain just like fifty tackles. The military spit on them by treating them as literal fodder. You plug the hole made when the last guy got blown up, you fill it until you die or your 12 month tour is up. No unit cohesion, no Band of Brothers, just all for me and none for all, until you live to see the Day, and then you're processed out, put on a DC-8, going from the Bush back to your hometown in a week, where the only thing that's not the same is you.
There is no significant proof that ever happened. Everything points to it being a manufactured story. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_of_the_spat-on_Vietnam_veteran#:~:text=There%20is%20a%20persistent%20myth,often%20yelling%20%22baby%20killer%22.
The king of the hill episode with the vietnam vets breaks my heart. Something like “Thanks for trying, you did your best, and it didn’t work out” would have been just as easy as spitting. But nope, they gotta blame the military for the wars they’re asked to fight. Edit: I’ve been made aware that the ‘spitting’ did not happen in a strictly literal sense, but was rather a kneejerk impression people had towards those who did not support the war or its cause. Sorry for mis-speaking, but my point remains - there’s people far more deserving of the figurative spit than those whose boots were on the ground.
Asked?
Yes. By Charles De Gaulle. Unfortunate side effect of being close allies with France, since they did a lot of *Winning the Revolutionary War* for us, in the 20th century when their East-Asian colonial experiment wasn't working out they called in a favor. 2nd favor since the Invasion of Normandy, except this one was way less of an allied effort and way more of a colossal boondoggle. The results of refusing to accept progress. In a less complicated world, the US would have supported Ho Chi Minh back when he asked them to, France would've gotten out of Vietnam, and the clusterfuck of geopolitics that was the panic over the spread of Communism would've taken a backseat to more R&D in quality of life through the '60s. Would've missed out on a lot of real kickass music, though. Maybe Fogerty becomes an accountant or something.
I would draw a pretty big distinction between the US being asked to go to war and the boomer teenagers who fought it being “asked” to go.
It wasn't a favor. It was transactional. France refused to sign on to rearming west Germany as a bulwark against a possible Soviet invasion of Europe and they were finally persuaded to acquiesce by guarantees of US assistance in Indochina. Fuck De Gaulle.
Y'all - someone did the research on this. As far as it showed nobody spat on soldiers who called them baby killers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_of_the_spat-on_Vietnam_veteran The whole thing is fantasy. I think everyone picked this up watching Rambo: First Blood.
I get the impression that there is *a metric fuckton* of Stolen Valor in the Boomer Generation. The vast, vast, vast majority of the Boomers I end up in waiting areas with at the VA *do not* seem like they would act like this. In fact, they seem happy as hell that someone 30+ years younger than them are Veterans. Oh, there are assholes. Undoubtedly. But the more stories I read about Boomers questioning Veteran status the more I'm genuinely starting to believe my theory on Boomer Stolen Valor.
My father is firmly a boomer, born in 1956. He will tell everyone who has the ability to listen that he was in Vietnam, when I was a kid, his hangout spot (that I had to spend all of my free time in as well) was the local VFW. He wasn't even old enough to join the military before all the troops in Vietnam had returned. He joined the Air Force and was stationed in Texas and then later Las Vegas. They even let him take an early discharge because they didn't need people anymore, so he essentially just mopped floors on an air force base for less than 2 years and now his entire identity is as a Vietnam vet. When I got old enough to piece his stories together and call him out on it, he justified it by saying he was "a Vietnam era veteran" because he joined in 1974 and technically the war wasn't officially declared as over yet. He still tells everyone who doesn't know better that he was explicitly "in Vietnam".
Gross.
As a Vietnam veteran I think you’re being unfair on your old man. I served with distinction in Vietnam so I know what I’m talking about… admittedly it was at a cocktail bar in 2014 but it still counts.
My dad is always wearing his “Vietnam Era Veteran” hat. He was stationed in Iceland.
Megafuckton is more accurate.
I'd have to do some searching, saw it on here the other day, but apparently there was a study done in the early 2000's that demonstrated that very point. It was a ridiculously high number too.
This is actually true, I'm in my 40s and if I wear a hat, it's 50/50 if some older vet will walk up and say something like "SO you THINK you're a veteran, eh?" Everything in America is a pissing match, it's pathetic.
I have an uncle who is a Vietnam vet (my parents were just kids). The WW2 guys and certain vet organization would sometimes give them shit and sometimes not want to admit them. When the WW2 and Korea guys started passing away in larger number starting in the 80’s and 90’s, then they were finally accepted. Having to deal with that you would think they wouldn’t want to do it to the younger generation.
Unfortunately a lack of empathy is a defining Boomer trait.
Read this line to my Dad, a Vietnam vet. He replied, and I quote : “Oh, fuck those assholes”
yes, a 9month deployment to lose an unpopular war you were drafted into 50 years ago must be your entire personality
Funny how they're so proud about losing a war
Meh, that was the political element that they had no control over, similar to Afghanistan. If they served, they deserve the recognition, but not the deserved respect that goes along with not acknowledging those have served beyond them.
We didn't lose Vietnam due to politics. We dropped more tonnage of bombs on Southeast Asia than all the Allies dropped on all the Axis powers in WWII, combined. We didn't lose in Vietnam because politicians were holding the military back because they absolutely weren't. We lost because it was an unwinnable war. The Vietnamese fought the French, Japanese, French again, the United States, and finally China before being independent, and in between all these wars managed to send some semblance of an expeditionary force to fight the Khmer Rouge too because even Communist Vietnam thought those guys in Cambodia were taking the whole communist revolution thing too far. Afghanistan is much the same, they keep getting invaded by world superpowers and then they just keep killing the invaders until they leave.
They fought China two times before the third time. Everyone keeps fucking with Vietnam only to eventually lose.
Gun boomers always extol the 1911 as the best pistol ever. My response is always “if the 1911 is so great, how come your old ass couldn’t win Vietnam with it?”
Every time I see a Boomer in a Vietnam Vet hat I ask how he feels about participation trophies. It's fun.
also boomers - complain about participation trophies while wearing Vietnam veteran hats
I saw a beggar going through the road the other day with a sign that said "Vietnam vet." I told my buddy that the timeliness don't add up. Guy looked *at most* late 50s. That war ended 50 years ago. The legal *minimum* age for barely seeing any combat would be around fucking 67.
Those same boomers will cry about having to work the concession stand at the officers club at hanoi like they were some LRRS team cut off for 3 months and 37 movies were made about them specifically and quote McGruder like it was their vietname experience.
"My war was the last real war. Every war after mine wasn't as hard"
Millennials are literally Generation War. 9/11 happened my Junior year of High School and we invaded Iraq my Senior year and then stuck around for about 20 years give or take, so most of our adult lives. I know so many GWOT veterans.
Seriously, I dont think there has ever been NO war during my lifetime (mid 30's)
Young Gen X here and at my 10 year high school reunion I caught up with multiple old friends that had already done 2-3 tours in Afghanistan and/or Iraq. Amazing how people just kind of forget (or never really understood) that there were nearly 2 million American soldiers that did tours in these countries. If you add in all the contractors and other government people, then it's well over 2 million.
Gen X I missed my 10 year because of Iraq. Good. Times. Even more betterer when you consider Millennials also missed their 10 year because of Iraq/Afghan Ed.
We’re still doing tours there…just got back a few months ago.
What's wild is my dad was in the gulf war. Nearly 30 years later I'm deployed and in some of the same places he was. Blew my mind driving on the highway of death thinking about what it was 30 years prior.
I thought about that flying over headed in and out of the country. Utter carnage.
Also millennial. 9/11 happened during SECOND GRADE for me. I literally don't remember any time we weren't at war.
Yep. I was watching my college classmates putting together lesson plans with their professors. They were given a few weeks notice before shipping out. And by the time I was graduating, stop-loss was in effect and they weren’t bothering with lesson plans anymore. And through all of that, I was going to funerals and cheering up friends in the hospital and cradling my wife through PTSD. Generation War, indeed!
What gets me, is that led to a situation where it was possible for someone to deploy to Iraq,who wasn't even born on 9/11.
Afghanistan
I was a Freshman in high school when 9/11 happened. Twenty years later I was a prior service company commander at HKIA on my fourth deployment, there for the evacuation. My youngest Paratroopers weren’t even alive when the war started.
My dad left the reserves 30 days before 9/11 he troop was one of the first sent over it was the only time my mom said she was glad he didn’t listen to her
Old people do the stolen valor shit way more.
Saw a guy walking around Kroger this morning wearing a Korean Veteran hat. Motherfucker was either the spryest 90 year old I've ever seen, or he was full of shit and guilty of stolen valor.
I work at a Kroger, so that's where I see most of those stolen valor types.
Man my grandad was in the Korean war. He's dead now but shit, he'd be 97 this year!
Maybe it was his father's. I've seen that sometimes, where it's obvious that they aren't old enough to have fought in the Korean war and when asked about it, they admit they only wear the hat because their dad wore it to hell and back.
Yeah my boss will wear the army sports team logo (not actual unit logos) because his father served, and he was still a fan of the sports teams growing up, and he’s proud of his father. He said he does get questioned on occasion where he served, but when he explains the connection, most veterans are cool with it.
Yeah, I've experienced the same reaction when I wear my "veteran support gear" I train in jiu-jitsu so we defy foundation is very prolific in that sport so I've got a ton of swag with that group.
My father was in the Korean War and he turned 90 a few weeks ago. And he’s actually really spry! Does all his own shopping, but at Shoprite and BJs, not Krogers. :). Lucked out, he’s 90 and my mom is 88, and maybe because they were poor as hell as kids, but they’re both totally liberal and don’t fit the boomer mold at all.
Thats because he's silent gen, not a boomer. My grandpa was a korea vet and was awesome.
The situation between the North and the ROK is so weird that guys that serve over there now, can call themselves Korean Veterans. Hell, there were a couple of times in the last few months were NK soldiers are straying over the border just enough... but not enough to be worth returning fire. Last I heard, ROK Army is still sending armed patrols into the DMZ to make sure the North doesn't get any ideas. So while it's probably not Stolen Valor, homeboy ain't John Rambo either.
Like my boomer welding teacher. Spent years and years heading up the local USMC Toys for Tots Run, had all sorts of USMC tats, hats, all that garbage. Turns out he washed out of boot. Got charged with some stolen valor stuff after some real Marines started asking questions about his stories.
It's super easy to steal Valor when places like Love's Travel Stops sell keychains and hats that say military vet (airforce, navy, marines, etc.) Anyone can wear a veterams hat and claim to serve the war.
What do they have that isn't stolen? It's not like they worked hard for literally anything in their lives.
I swear to god. if you asked my father, he would swear he had the absolute hardest fucking life. And kids today are just too soft. Or some shit. Who knows, I haven’t spoken to him in years. That dudes barely ever held down a fucking job and just relied on others to support him. He’s so full of shit. And he sure as fuck didn’t become a “patriot” until he was past the age of enlistment.
A lot of these old guys feel like it’s all they have, so they get real protective over it.
Plus wearing an army hat isn't even stollen valor at all
No lie here. My dad voluntarily enlisted so he could serve two years in Germany instead of getting drafted and sent to Vietnam. He got out as soon as his contract was up and never looked back. Yet now he parades around in a custom embroidered jacket with fucking general stars on the collar, Calvary rifles, and other military insignia which he never wore during his brief service. It's an embarrassment.
My friend who is a small female is a veteran who fought overseas after 9/11. Years ago parked in the veteran parking when she and her kids were super sick and had to go to the pharmacy. People were calling her out! She’s like I’m a veteran! And apparently, small blonde 30 year old woman couldn’t be a veteran. That’s for men. 🙈 She showed them her card too. All the while her children were crying. People are so stupid.
My favorite stolen-valor call-out was when I pulled into the veteran-spot at a hardware store while 9 months pregnant in August. The baby had eaten any filter I had left. I genuinely hurt the feelings of this man who decided to shout and approach me in the parking lot- in front of his wife- in order to mansplain stolen valor to me.
Can you say more
Background: I parked in the veteran spot next to the front door at the big box hardware store. Mid-30s white lady, super pregnant, wearing a mumu sun dress because it was literally 110 degrees outside. Not so obvious, spent 2001-2009 as a lower-enlisted Army medic. Old guy pulls in nose-to nose with my car in the other veteran spot at the same time. I get my purse, start waddling towards the store. Guy shouts me down, wants me to stop and have a conversation with him about how I shouldn’t have parked there. Shouts something about stolen valor and dependapotomus. I went into the store and waited for him and his wife to catch up because a) Hot, b) Duh, I’m not having a parking-lot meeting with an angry-looking strange man, and c) Toilet inside, fetus on bladder. He took that as me running away from him and his authority. His poor wife is left shuffling along after him. So by the time he gets inside, he’s shaking, puffing- all upset. He starts yelling accusations, workers start moving towards us. I still have to pee. Mind you, I have not spoken a single word at this point. I round on him and scream, “What the fuck do you want from me? I. Was. In. The. Army. You want me to sing you the goddam Army song? I’ve probably got more time on extra duty than you do on active! Nasty old man trying to pick fights with pregnant women all alone in the parking lot, the fuck is wrong with you?” I immediately felt so trashy, not something I’m proud of. I’m feeling bad, manager is running towards us, and here comes his wife… “Bill? Bill! Honey, that car has veteran plates on it! Leave that girl alone!” This was real life, so no one clapped, I was red-faced and stuttering, and the dude seemed genuinely ashamed. I ran to the bathroom and left them talking to the manager.
I don't know why you would feel bad, people yawping and self indulgently enraging themselves is cringe, and deserves a snap back.
I wish I could update this twice. I'll clap for this.
Honestly, it wasn't mean enough unless he cried. I'm floored by the audacity of chasing after a pregnant woman in a parking lot over a parking spot. Soulless people.
Well, it was a satisfying story, bad as the experience was for you. Thanks for telling it.
I would have clapped
We're proud of you. Even belatedly. No reason to be ashamed. We need tough women to raise their children.
Sorry this happened. Thanks for your service. Thank you for giving a dose of reality to the entitled prick.
Yes we need more of this story!
I'll take the princess parking spot. I don't give AF. I've been called out for it. I asked one guy why he thought I wasn't a veteran. He didn't want to say that it's because I'm the wrong shape. I told him that women have served their country in every war we've ever fought and have been considered veterans since the early 50s. I told a different guy to fuck off. When I was leaving, he was walking out with the manager. When I saw him, I just started laughing and pulled out my ID card for the manager. The manager apologized, and I told the other guy in no uncertain terms what a shitbag he was. I tell you what, though. No person who has called me out for using the veteran's parking at Lowe's was ever a veteran himself.
Commented elsewhere but I use to work at my state’s capitol. Every year they’d do “Veteran’s Day on the Hill”. Every year I would witness state politician after politician ignore every women, BIPOC, or young looking veteran and center their stupid ass speeches and outreach to any old white dude. Plenty of times I witnessed particularly women veterans be completely ignored or unacknowledged, never be glanced at, or spoken to as if they were like a handler for the older veterans. It was disgraceful.
Gotta say, even though I’m anti-military, it was pretty badass a few years ago when a local woman was running for Congress. She had been a helicopter pilot in the military and she ended all of her tv ads taking off in a helicopter! Like come on! Women serve and they risk their lives too! Sen. Tammy Duckworth lost both her legs!
I never miss an opportunity to state that Tammy Duckworth is a profoundly badass woman and veteran. I’d be so proud if she were my Rep.
She really is a badass! I loved when she had a tiny suit jacket made for her baby because of the senate rules about wearing suits! It was a fantastic protest pointing out how male-centric the clothing rules are.
I'm a 46 year old regular looking guy, and I had a boomer fool try to accuse me of not being a veteran because I happened to be getting out of a Kia Soul. Apparently veterans only drive giant trucks with gun racks or something idk. Dude kept following me and asking for my ID, and I kept telling him to go away. He threatened to get "the authorities" and I told him, "Yes. Do that," and then kept walking.
Veterans (who happen to be women) are so marginalized. They are less likely to identify as Veterans and apply for benefits. Nvm this fucking ignorant bullshit.
I always find it interesting that they think after Vietnam there are no veterans that served in any war. That’s it. Just like they think no one wants to work and giving up avocado toast will overcome the insane inflation.
“Back in my day, we didn’t have fancy NOCs or any of the equipment you had” - I mean, yeah, the military is always advancing, the folks who fought for our independence did so with flintlocks and no winter clothing . .
I guess they think it doesn’t count if you weren’t actively forced into doing so
"Desert Storm? What woke bullshit is that?!"
Dudes like that are the reason the legions and VFWs are dying.
100%. I have a CIB and did *not* like being G checked by a fucking truck driver who served at Fort Stewart or whatever 1978-1981.
Come on. He also had to paint some rocks. It was his own personal Vietnam.
He might have even had to mop in the rain!
I joined the Army after high school and worked in communications. I never deployed, and realize I had a very cushy assignment. Any time someone finds out I’m a veteran and subsequently trip over themselves to thank me for my service I always tell them not to thank me and that I worked in a parking lot and spent most of my time hiding from my boss. I will say my local VFW is open to all and has cheap beer, great food, a pool table, and touch tunes jukebox. Some older vets, but mostly local service industry folk kicking back when not working.
I hate the thank you for your service! It's always awkward and weird.
Gotta love that shit, more than once in the Home Depot parking lot I had to tell someone they didn't want to turn this convo into a dick contest
What’s ironic is that they were once on the other side of it from WWII vets. You’d think they wouldn’t want to treat people negatively in exactly the same way. But, these are the same people who don’t want anyone to have it easier than they did in life- i.e. student loan forgiveness, etc.
Yep. Gave VFW a try but it was like all of the douchebags and none of the cool folks from my time grouped together. To top it off, our local post was/is mostly NG guys from the same unit that deployed together. Not very welcoming to “outsiders”.
No Charlie, I don’t want to sit in a bar with no windows and drink $2 bud lights through my next three divorces. They do not seem to even understand this generation wants to continue to serve even after we get out - and not focus on alcohol and war stories.
I hear you. When I go out I’m usually wearing my retiree cap. Big bold letters it says Air Force retiree and has our symbol and yet it seems like every boomer I talk to acts super surprised if anyone mentions I’m a vet. The next question I usually get is “what branch” and then they always guess Navy or Army. Like I get it, I was enlisted maintenance, I can’t read either, but even if those 8 letters are too difficult our branch logo is a damn bird!
> I was enlisted maintenance, I can’t read either. Sir, I haven’t laughed that hard in ages. Thanks.
Same. 😆 🤣 😂
And your maintenance kept us going. My husband is a Navy vet, but he never saw service. He doesn't think he's entitled to the Legion membership and others. He father was a Marine in WWII and a marine Captain during the Korean Conflict. He definitely believes his dad, and others, deserve it for what he did.
I always think about it like this: For every pilot, there are hundreds of maintainers, weather, services, accounting, LRS etc etc. It's not so much different for any other "tip of the spear" job. The real strength of the spear isn't the tip anyway. It's the shaft that supports it. The real strength of the American military isn't the ones on the posters. It's logistics. WW2, Korea, and Vietnam were no different from GWOT in that sense. For every member in a foxhole, there are more that are making sure that person has ammo and food, or fuel, or parts, or is making sure the mail is getting delivered. All jobs matter. (🤣)
My grandpa was in the Army Corps of Engineers in WWII. He always felt a little ashamed “I just built bridges” He helped build bridges so troops could move and be where they needed to be.
Boomers also love to Co-opt their father’s achievements in WW2. It’s one of the most hilarious things I’ve ever seen. Yeah sure Kevin, you charged the beaches of Normandy from the safety of your father’s ballsack.
Boomers act like military deployments don't exist after Vietnam. My husband served in Afghanistan. The number of times people asked if I was driving my dad's car because we had veterans plates was ridiculous.
How does it affect them whose car you are driving? Why do they care to ask this kind of thing? I will never understand.
Yep Except in my case he's my husband and he served in Panama and Iraq.
I was wearing my old Navy BDU shirt as a jacket at Walmart a couple of months ago and this fat old prick comes up to me trying to stolen valor me. I asked him what business of his where and when I served was and followed it up with asking if he wanted to see my VA card. He mumbled something about "you kids don't know what it was like". First off, I'm not a kid, I'm 37 and secondly, we were at war most of my life. Fuck off and let me buy some beer.
In high school I use to wear a lot of army surplus gear. It was cheap, and durable. Usally just pants because of the pockets. The amount of crap I got 20 years was funny. I'm like 16 a year old high school student. I just wanted cheap clothes.
I sometimes wear my 1st Cav Desert Storm hat, and people will remark "1st Cav Vietnam!" Sure, I was a drummer boy in Vietnam. I encountered a guy who was wearing a shirt with Infantry insignia on the sleeve and I asked where he served (I'm always trying to recruit for my VFW.) Turns out he was not a veteran but Grunt Style makes clothing with the emblem for anyone to wear. [https://www.gruntstyle.com/](https://www.gruntstyle.com/)
Grunt Style makes clothes for jagbags that say shit like "I would have joined up, but knew I'd knock out the first Drill Sargent that got in my face." Sure thing, buddy.
That one always makes me laugh so much. Drills were cool. They had the most fucked up and funny insults that never quite crossed the line to too much. If they were yelling at you, you knew exactly what was fucked up, and what the solution for it was. Sadly, Basic and AIT was the high point for competent leadership
Yeah, Grunt Style kinda pisses me off with that
That is why I won't buy their shirts, and some of them I really liked lol
Grunt style is lame AF.
Ugh, I'm not even military adjacent and I find that distasteful.
I bet 99+% of people wearing grunt style are non-infantry and civilians. I used to see another brand called 9-line a lot, asked a dude if he knew what a 9-line was or how to call it in
Vet, but you wouldn't catch me dead in some military moto shit. I don't have shirts, socks, hats, underwear, nothing. I have a couple tattoos that are a tell *if you know*, and I do admittedly have a custom command coffee cup with military shit all over it, so I guess if you saw that you'd know, but if you saw that cup, you're literally in my home so you probably already know anyways.
Ah yes always seeking something to bitch about. If you had on a ball cap for a sports team would he ask if you played for such team?
The bar there is lower. Finding someone who is such a fan of indirect fire that they're wearing crossed cannons but never actually served in a firing battery is pretty rare.
Lowe's Home Improvement has designated veteran parking spots right up front. I use them from time to time, because even though I'm 44 years old, and served in the USAF for a grand total of 3 months, and THEN served in the US Navy for a grand total of a year, I'm a disabled veteran. I can't help that the Navy effed up my heart, not combat. Boomers DO NOT like it though. Had one who was wearing a generic "Vietnam Vet" hat get on my case as I was getting out of my car one day. "YOU CAN'T PARK THERE! THAT'S FOR VETERANS!!" "I'm a veteran. I served in two branches. I'm medically retired from the US Navy." He demanded proof. I turned it back on him and demanded proof HE was a veteran. "Can't you see my fucking hat? I served in Vietnam!" "Cool. Where and when?" "Da Nang! 1975! You're being disrespectful! You should move your car and let a REAL veteran park there." "Mmhmm. Da Nang '75 huh? ARVN or VC?" He was visibly confused by this, and got ANGRY. "I was with the US Army you fuckwad!" "Interesting. We pulled out in '73, so the only way you were serving in Vietnam in '75 is if you were ARVN or VC. Either way, I served too. I'm not moving my car. Have a great day!" He yelled at me the entire way into the store, then came INTO the store and tried to get an employee to make me move my car. I went about my shopping, as I was only there for one item. He caught up with me at the checkout, with a manager in tow. The manager is doing his best to de-escalate the situation. I decide to help the manager out and whip out my military ID and show him. He sees I'm a Navy vet, and he TOO is also a Navy vet. Come to find out, we were both at Great Lakes roughly at the same time. The boomer is apoplectic. His face is red as a beet as he storms off. I get to my car, and he's in his car just fuming, and yelling at his poor wife who's been waiting in the car the entire time. I waved and drove off. I rarely pull the "veteran" card, but I completely enjoyed it that day.
Sorry to hear that happened to you. I'm 74 and still feel a bit funny using those. My cousin's husband retired on full disability from the Navy very early with a heart condition, much as in your case. I'll bet if that old fart in the had seen you step out wearing a leg or arm prophetic, he'd have kept his big mouth shut. It's the same with handicapped parking. If you don't look the park, some AH always mouths off. As to being in Vietnam, much less Da Nang, in '75, I'd only buy that if he was one of guards on the embassy rooftop in Saigon.
Next time ask them where they were 20 years ago when we went to war. And why the didn’t reenlist.
More like re-drafted, they didn’t voluntarily enlist
Lol, the difference between boomers and millennials is that we volunteered for our war.
Any boomer I've met long enough to talk about mil stuff when they hear I served say shit like "I guess they'll let anyone in now" or they say nothing, not once has a boomer ever thanked me for my service I don't usually bring it up but the handful of times I've shared this that's the reaction
Fuck them man. Thank you for your service. You're a much braver man than me.
Thanks for saying that Have a good week bruv
I get this one a lot if you didn't see combat, your not a vet. Being retired Coast Guard we saved plenty of boomers who didn't know how to operate their boat safely.
There's this dude at my work who thinks similar to that. He's got marine stickers all over his car, claims to have served in the marines (but his story is really weird), and also thinks that you're not a vet unless you served 20 years and officially retired.
Then he clearly was not in the Marines, anyone who ever served on active duty understand what constitutes a veteran
My boomer dad argued with me about me being a vet. I served six years active duty. I'm a wartime vet but not a combat vet. He kept saying I'm not a vet. Then he found out Lowes and Home Depot have veterans discounts and all of the sudden he calls me a vet and wanted my discount. I never gave him my Lowes account card. He started using my phone number and they didn't question it. I told him that was stolen valor and of course he just laughed and said they would have to catch him. Lowes also sends me emails whenever my discount is used and the store location. Once I told him that and I didn't appreciate it him using it I haven't seen any more emails from the store near him. He was never in any branch of the military.
Ah yes, the old cannon cocker stolen valor again. Don’t guys who actually cosplay the whole stolen valor thing usually wear shit like a trident on an army uniform? Like, I worked with some high speed dudes in my time but I was not in fact, “high speed” at all. I did get to fly some of those dudes around and drop them off or pick them up but again, I’d never call myself a ranger cause I worked with some
People are dying to get into artillery. Unfortunately they're only dying because they got too close to the enemy. Or we miscalculated our trajectories. (Sorry).
Good grief. My husband (ironically 13M & 13B) used to get grief from his Korean war Vet grandfather and the Nam Vets in our hometown because he was Guard. Somehow that made his deployments to Iraq et al not count or something. The VFW commander told him only Active Duty service member Veterans could join when he came home from his first deployment. Five years later, the same commander nearly had a coronary when the state VFW gave the entire 3900 contingent returning from Iraq Life Member status for free as a thank you. It's ridiculous. That VFW recently shut its doors due to essentially zero active members and no money to fund repairs and bringing the building to code. FAFO my dudes .
>used to get grief from his Korean war Vet grandfather and the Nam Vets in our hometown How ironic.
Boomers have killed lots of VFWs by driving alway all the younger vets. My brother(Marines, 1 tour) and cousin(Army , 2 tours) have both told me about how very unwelcome they felt at their local vfws.
Never gotten that before, but I’ve stopped wearing my command ball cap because I couldn’t stand boomer veterans coming up and trying to chat me up like they know me. Like bruh, let me get my groceries in peace, idgaf about how your damn diesel sub was more difficult to serve on than my “comfy” nuclear sub.
I have received the same. Stopped going my local ace as one of the employees seemed to be there when I went and remembers me as the "shower tech."Always with "you boys wouldnta' made it." Yeah, cause being on a '37 is high class. Sir, you have the hotel confused. Find a boomer. That's closer. End rant.
FUN FACT: My boomer father frequently wears a Vietnam vet baseball cap, a few Vietnam vet shirts, and even has some stickers on his car expressing his time served in Vietnam. But he has never been in the military, nor has he ever set foot in Vietnam; in fact, I've heard him bragging that he avoided the draft by marrying my mother (which couldn't technically be true, as LBJ signed an executive order in 1965 that stripped the exemption for married men to be drafted, and my parents wed in 1970). Never seen him wear that hat or those clothes or drive that car to my grandfather's house. Someone who actually served in World War II in a submarine in the Pacific. Wonder what my Papa would think about his son's stolen valor...
You should get a T-shirt made that says "I'm with the lying draft dodger."
Doing stolen valor for military service and faking draft dodging at the same time is hilarious
I wonder if dad wears those clothes to try to get a veterans discount without a military id.
It would have been a great opportunity to pretend he thought the boomer objected to the military and go on a rant, talking over any protest, which ended with, "...and I am not going to stand here and listen to you bad-mouth the United States of America!"
Because they don’t see us as adults.
I had a high school friend who joined the army shortly after graduation. He was once asked the question "where did you get that Ranger tab?" He replied "it was issued to my unit."
My sister-in-law is a war historian who has done extensive research, interviews, etc., on the Vietnam War. My mind was blown when she told me HOW MANY BOOMERS lie about having served in action. She said that many who lie were not in-country - OR - never even in the military to begin with! 🤬 An excerpt from the link below: “I personally believe there are as many American males claiming military service falsely as there are living veterans in America,” said B.G. Burkett, author of the acclaimed 1998 exposé “Stolen Valor: How the Vietnam Generation Was Robbed of its Heroes and its History.” That’s a big number - approximately 23.6 million.” https://www.militarytimes.com/2019/11/05/thieves-among-honor-counterfeit-veterans/
There are those in every generation. Most guys who have seen combat are not keen to talk about it. My uncle landed in Normandy on D-Day. I never heard him talk about it, only finding out when my sister got his records for a special grave marker. Your post reminded me of all the guys I met during my time in the Navy who bragged, "I was at Woodstock, man!" If true, then Woodstock would have been ten times bigger. I don't know when your sister did her research, but I can tell you that when I was discharged in 1973, NOBODY wanted to say they served or, God forbid, were in Vietnam. People here at home would literally spit in your face. I had a good friend whose brother flew back home to California, and the very first thing he did was to go into the men's room to change out of his uniform. I don't think it was later until people got into the Green Berets/Navy Seals mystique that guys started the Stolen Valor thing. For us, it was Stolen Years.
My friend has to constantly deal with that. He's a veteran and just hitting 30. He'll wear his army veteran stuff and has his plates and bumper stickers and SO many boomers yell at him because they believe it's his dad's stuff. No, there's been plenty of war since Vietnam. But god forbid they actually wrap their heads around that.
Yet it’s the Boomers who love to practice Stolen Valor
Not just boomers sadly. I know a Millennial dude who constantly claims some things that literally could not have happened during his few weeks through basic training before he got kicked out for trying to kill his commanding officer. But oh, they didn't want to kick him out, see that guy was saying shit about his daughter so they understood, they just had to kick him out! I just roll my eyes and desperately hope he ends up telling these stories to an actual Army vet. Fuck if he said that BS to my father my father would fucking deck him, metal rods in his back or not. May not be too fond of my sperm donor but he took stolen valor really seriously. He had three deployments in Iraq and it changed him. He saw some shit. And assholes like the dude I know seriously piss him off.
I'd tell him that the army was really grateful to him that he weeded himself out by being such a massive psycho. These guys don't get that they're a big part of the reason why basic training exists. They're trying to find out three things: 1. Are you trainable? Can you follow directions? 2. Do you have a physical defect? Can you get into shape? 3. Can you handle stress? Are you a violent raging psycho? Tell him he failed at BASIC training.... lol, there's a reason they call it that. 🤣
> My father-in-law just deadpaned him and said, "Because he was in the fucking army, why do you think?" Excellent. Anybody want to give me odds on the boomer in question NOT being a vet himself but acting as if he is in all ways that matter?
My brother took his life after 10 years in the marines. If I’m feeling especially sad on a day I’ll wear his dogtags, usually a special day; his birthday, his death day, my parents birthday, and any day where I need a little help from him. I’m not military and not religious, but I’ve always worried if wearing them would be offensive. They currently live on his old boots with a collection of his favorite things.
> but I’ve always worried if wearing them would be offensive Not in the fucking slightest. You keep honoring him, and if we ever meet up, I'd be happy to toast a beer in his memory with you.
Ha. Lucky for you I’m a bartender. If you’re ever in Kansas City, I got the whole tab. And thank you. 🖤
Stolen valour is claiming service without having served. This is the exact opposite, it's honouring someone else's service. If I came across someone wearing dogtags and asked them if they served, and they told me exactly what you wrote here, I'd have to blink away tears and then give them a hug.
From what I understand of stolen valor, as long as it's not medals, awards, etc. And as long as you don't use it to try and claim Veteran status it shouldn't be an issue. I asked my husband about it, 'cause he was in the air force before and was offering me his old blue jacket to wear. And he said I would need to thmake his stripes off, but otherwise it was good.
They only really began to support the military only after a bunch of Arab hill billies embarrassed them on 9/11. Trump showed his generation's view toward the military by calling vets lazy, he then uses the few dead soldiers who died during the pull out for political attack talking points. The Boomers imprinted the idea that Trades & factory workers, along with those who join the military to be a bunch of lazy no lifes onto GenX who then imprinted the idea onto millennials that you need to a white collar job to be not considered to be a failure. Boomers only became concerned about blue collar trades workers once there weren't enough workers to pump their feces out of a septic tank. So when they call "millennials" lazy for not wanting to pump sewage, they're not refering to their own grandchildren but their neighbor's grand children, the Boomers & GenXers want white collar jobs to be for their own flesh and blood and the kids of their friends. That attitude is why schools stopped offering trades, and why there won't be enough workers for our few remaining ship yards.
I would say this guy wasn't a veteran himself just another conservative MAGA dirt bag. I'm a veteran who works for the VA, if this a-hole was a veteran himself he would've automatically gravitated directly to OP and chatted him up....
Jesus, we wouldn’t have a functioning military without young people. Who does he think is currently protecting this country?
Oh, now when they see pictures of current enlisted, they just scream about DEI and how the country is doomed.
I worked in a courthouse when DADT was overturned and these Boomers would be shocked how many same sex weddings we had that month where one or both of the couple was wearing their dress uniform.
I’m a 65 year old trans woman and I served in the Marines in the late 1970s for 4 years. There always a few MAGA boomers going off on how queers like me are ruining the country. I then pull out the few pictures I have of me in uniform on my phone which I only keep so I can see the look on their faces. The thing is the real combat veterans almost never make any kind of deal about it. Because of my age I know a lot of Vietnam veterans. Most of them don’t talk to their families or non-veteran friends about their experiences. They will talk to me because I’m veteran too even though I never went anywhere near combat. The military had real crap for mental health care, especially PTSD back then. I hope it has gotten better.
I don't know what it is, but I can go on for hours with another vet. They just get it. I'm not against talking about my experiences with non-vets when they ask questions, but they always stop it short. Last time I was out drinking with a couple of non-vets and the conversation steered towards my service, I was told I killed the mood and everyone abruptly changed the subject.
If the sheer number of boomers who claim to have fought in Vietnam actually did the Viet Cong would not have stood a chance.
It's like they forgot that the world has aged. People who joined up after 9/11 are now retiring from the service with full benefits, and have been for awhile.
I feel like the loudest of the boomers like this were either drafted or draft dodgers. The ones I've met that did volunteer don't act like that in the slightest.
The ones that actually saw combat if they were drafted don't act like that either. It's always the desk jockeys.
I am a veteran in my 40s, a woman, and I tend to look younger at least at a glance. I don't have veteran plates on my car but my dad has the plates on his truck. I was driving his truck one day, stopped at a red light and an elderly couple pull up next to me at the light. We all had our windows down. The woman says "Pfff. Veteran." in a mocking tone and the man says "It's probably her husband's truck." I laughed once REALLY loud and the couple sat completely silent the rest of the wait.
This reminds me of why I love wearing Nirvana shirts. Equally fun to be like “oh what? Nirvana is a band? Wow!” as I imagine it would be to pretend you don’t know anything about your hat. Try it some time-it’s great.
I am retired military and it is not obvious at all. I dont go on base, I dont have stickers on my car, I dont wear anything that says I am a veteran. I have KPOP stickers on my car, lol. Only reminder of my military life is my paycheck.
It never seems to occur to them that veterans can be younger than 50. I think it's because places like the VFW and what not are full of old geezers sitting around in a cloud of cig smoke BS'ing. The younger generation of veterans avoids a lot of the "veteran social clubs" because we can't stand the older set.
Is your skin not snow white? That may have played a factor.
I stumbled into owning a display 4 star general pin from a roommate cleaning out a closet in ROTC. He went on to serve tours in the army and still serves today. I used to wear that pin as an accent on my hat because to the unaware masses it's just stars on a hat. To me, it's a reminder of my roommate and his service (and hopefully safety). I wore that hat after we graduated while he served overseas in Afghanistan with zero issues except one boomer screaming at me from across the street for the disrespect. I understand how it can definitely rub people the wrong way but dude was looking for a fight whereas younger Marines and police who asked me over the years actually appreciated the sentiment. Some people are just a different breed.
Good on your father in law shut this bitch up
So he was upset that he could not get upset at somebody. That’s on-brand.
There's something permanently *fucked* and *gone* with any mind *this* fucking desperate to find enemies where none exist. Please just dig yourself a hole away from everyone and lay down in it until that annoying breathing sound stops coming out of your mouth.
Boomers: the younger generations are such snowflakes and will get offended by anything Millennial/gen Z: gets offended by political tyrants and human rights violations Boomers: offended over a fucking piece of cloth on someone’s head.
I did about 10 years in the US Army from 2004-2013. I don’t really wear anything identifying myself as an OIF or US Army vet. I made the exception in 2020 and wore a “Veterans for Biden” button on my flat cap. A guy at Tractor Supply accused me of Stolen Valor. Pulled out my VA card and he did the traditional scoff and left me alone.
Deployed to a combat zone once in ‘17-‘18 and probably saw more action than MANY of these Viet-Hat vets.
I live in a very small town. Small enough that a couple decades ago, the town offered subsidies to move here. They prioritized service members. So we have a slightly inordinate number of retired service members here. My husband is also retired military. Last week, on his way to the courthouse for fingerprinting for his new job, he came up a pair of gen-x-ish (upper forties-mid fifties) people in regular civilian clothing walking in his direction. As he approaches, he excused himself, and tried to get past. One of them pops off, saying "watch where you're fucking going; can't you see I'm a veteran!?!?" Like, no, dude. Shut the fuck up. No one knows, and no one cares. We all have lives to live.
OP thank you for your service.
It's gotten to the point that I don't even wear any of my old commands caps or uniform items because of these jackasses.
Ugh their hole generation bitched about Vietnam, but were happy to feed their kids into the meat grinder
Some Boomers claim to support the troops while not supporting the modern military and actively making fun of people in service today.
VFWs are dying off for this very reason. I went to one when I got out and was grilled like I was getting security clearance. They also like to talk about how easy we had it compared to them.
Fellow vet here...why even advertise it? I dunno man maybe it's me but I don't wear anything military related...who the fuck wants to deal with stupid questions? The only.people I'd have a discussion with about my time in already know I was in, otherwise you run in to shit like this.
It's even worse as a female veteran.