If you were in the service, do you consider yourself a "Vet"?

tnthomas said:
Yea, I was left handed(still am!) and had hot shells grazing my right cheek.

I got the sharpshooter's badge, missed Expert by 4 points, too bad, was dealing with a bad head & chest cold.

That head & chest cold got flushed out good by the visit to the gas warfare range, and the gas chamber.

CS gas is a great remedy for head & chest colds, they should bottle some up and sell it at CVS Pharmacy.
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At Fort Knox as MP in 1974. Basic trainee while firing M-16 left handed from firing pit on "automatic" had a hot casing go down his neck. He jerked up and around and hit a drill sergeant seven times. Drill sergeant had two tours in Nam as a grunt and got taken out by a basic trainee. Very sad.
 

When I am made KING everyone will serve two years. Everyone! No more "Fortunate Son" (Donald Trump being excellent example). And if you refuse to carry a weapon you will do two years of public service.
I don't expect to be made King anytime soon.
 
I note that the french are seriously considering national conscription for a period of no less than 2 years. Personally I think this is a good idea - gets the young off the streets and given some solid training; skill development and for some maketh the man! there's nothing wrong with conscription IMO
 

DGM said:
At Fort Knox as MP in 1974. Basic trainee while firing M-16 left handed from firing pit on "automatic" had a hot casing go down his neck. He jerked up and around and hit a drill sergeant seven times. Drill sergeant had two tours in Nam as a grunt and got taken out by a basic trainee. Very sad.
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Please enlighten me. What is a 'grunt'. According to the English/Oxford dictionary it is ,Quote. 'A low short gruff noise' 'A variety of tropical fish'
 
I enlisted for three years (1970-1973) in the Navy. According to my DD 214 and honorable discharge papers, I am a veteran. I had a discussion about this recently when someone was bragging he was a Vietnam veteran and his time was spent aboard an aircraft carrier in the Atlantic or on the base in Florida. I told him he was a Vietnam era veteran but not a Vietnam veteran unless he actually served in that country. I always felt that one shouldn't say Korean war veteran, WW2 veteran etc. unless they actually served in combat otherwise it should just be Army veteran (or whatever branch of service) because time was served while a war was going on. I consider myself a Navy veteran. That's just my opinion though. I am still in touch with high school classmates who continue to suffer the ill effects of serving in Nam-something I never had to experience so out of respect for them, they are the Vietnam veterans.
 
justfred said:
Please enlighten me. What is a 'grunt'. According to the English/Oxford dictionary it is ,Quote. 'A low short gruff noise' 'A variety of tropical fish'
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I served with some Marines who were referred to as grunts. As far as I could tell it was the lowest people in the unit, infantryman, someone who did all the "grunt" work in the dirt and mud.
 
And that is why grunts hate POGs. The term grunt used to refer to just Infantry and later to combat arms soldiers in the Army. A POG (Person Other than Grunt) is everyone else.
I personally never heard the term "POGS". We always called them "rear echelon commandos".
I saw an interesting show on AHC a few months ago. It explained how in WW2 there were so many more support troops than there were actual combatants. Very enlightening.
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Yes, I am a Veteran (U.S. Army, 1970 - 1978).
"What is a Veteran? Title 38 of the Code of Federal Regulations defines a veteran as “a person who served in the active military, naval, or air service and who was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable.” This definition explains that any individual that completed a service for any branch of armed forces classifies as a veteran as long as they were not dishonorably discharged." (https://va.org/what-is-a-veteran-the-legal-definition/). Don...
 
justfred said:
Please enlighten me. What is a 'grunt'. According to the English/Oxford dictionary it is ,Quote. 'A low short gruff noise' 'A variety of tropical fish'
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This is a grunt in Vietnam. We never knew why we were called that, we just loaded our gear and did what we were ordered to do. :(
 

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I was an Air Force Combat Controller for six years, six months, and 15 days from '66 to '73. I've always said that the military was the only job I ever had that got up every morning and looked forward to going to work. I loved the adventures I had. Nobody needs to thank me for my service. I don't stand when they ask for veterans to stand. I never take any freebees from businesses on Veteran's Day. Heck, I don't leave the house on Veteran's Day. The only welfare benefits I've ever taken for my military time was the GI bill. I've thought of paying that back.

CCT Rich '68.png
This was taken before I made Ssgt. I was part of an eleven man team who had just placed second in the 1968 Ft. Bragg Labor Day Leapfest.
Pope68.jpg
 
fuzzybuddy said:
[...]If you were in the service, do you consider yourself a "Vet"?
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I know that this is an old thread and others have answered the question in the OP, but I just finished reading through the thread and enjoyed the stories and discussions and pictures. To respond to the question in the OP, Wikipedia says:

"A military veteran is a person who has served and is no longer serving in the armed forces. Those veterans that have had direct exposure to acts of military conflict may also be referred to as war veterans (although not all military conflicts, or areas in which armed combat takes place, are necessarily referred to as wars). A combat veteran is a person who has fought in combat during a war or a skirmish against a declared enemy and may still be serving in the military."

I'm a Vietnam vet but not a combat vet. I enlisted in the Marines in 1974 and got sent over to Vietnam in '75 for the final act of the war: the Fall of Saigon and Operation Frequent Wind (the evacuation of Saigon). Even though the US wasn't involved in the hostilities, the US still had a military presence in Vietnam and Vietnam was technically still a war zone, so I received a couple ribbons on my chest just for showing up. But ultimately I was in a non-combat role, sitting around watching history being made.

A year afterwards, in 1976, I also spent six months camped out on the Korean DMZ. Apparently that makes me a Korean War veteran as well. At the end of the Korean War in 1953 the two sides never signed a peace treaty; they only signed an an armistice (a cease-fire) and set up the demilitarized zone (DMZ) to mark the dividing line. According to some authorities, the two Koreas are technically still at war. So it's my understanding that any US military person assigned to duty in South Korea technically becomes a Korean War vet. When I was a member of the VFW, the VFW officially credited me with being a veteran of two wars - Korea and Vietnam.

Again, that's what I was told about Korea, though I was a little fuzzy on the details.

Anyway, returning to the subject of Vietnam: Since the 70s I have been proud of my Vietnam vet status. But I'm always quick to add that I'm not a combat vet: US participation in the hostilities in Vietnam had ceased long before I showed up in 1975. Mainly, I like identifying as a Vietnam vet because it links me to a certain time period and mindset: It says that I'm an old-style Cold War-era dinosaur. I like that, because that's the era I grew up in and identify with.

On the other hand, I never really bragged about my status as a Korean War vet. Again, I was always a little fuzzy about the details on that one. :)
 
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"A veteran is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America' for an amount of up to and including THEIR LIFE."

- author unknown
 
Unfortunately, I didn't say what I meant with this thread. I was in the US Navy 68-72. I was a Corpsman (Medic). I was never in harms way. I always had a hot meal and a clean bed. So, Yup I am a VET. Folks have thanked me for my service. I'm grateful for that. But I feel that those, who gave up a hell of a lot more than I, should get the applause.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
Unfortunately, I didn't say what I meant with this thread. I was in the US Navy 68-72. I was a Corpsman (Medic). I was never in harms way. I always had a hot meal and a clean bed. So, Yup I am a VET. Folks have thanked me for my service. I'm grateful for that. But I feel that those, who gave up a hell of a lot more than I, should get the applause.
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My Husband was in the Navy from 1965 to 1969,but never served in combat ,so he always says he doesn't feel he was a Vet. I disagree with him. He could have been called into combat at anytime. He devoted 4 yrs to his country. I Believe he is a Vet and I believe you are a Vet. And Thank you for your service.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
Unfortunately, I didn't say what I meant with this thread. I was in the US Navy 68-72. I was a Corpsman (Medic). I was never in harms way. I always had a hot meal and a clean bed. So, Yup I am a VET. Folks have thanked me for my service. I'm grateful for that. But I feel that those, who gave up a hell of a lot more than I, should get the applause.
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Same here. US Air Force 1970-74. Medical Service Specialist (90250). I did a years tour in Vietnam but it was at relatively safe rear echelon bases. Cam Rahn Bay and DaNang. I never had a weapon in my hand the whole time. Plenty of bedpans however. :)

 
Korea 1951, 187th Parachute Regiment. I'm a combat veteran. However, I feel anyone who served in the Armed Forces should be
a Veteran. Military personnel don't often get their choice of a combat or non combat assignment. But. they still serve their
country in an assigned position. So, vet status for all.............
 
fuzzybuddy said:
I was in the U.S. Navy from 1968-72. I was stationed in Chicago, D.C., NYC, and Cuba (Well, before the prison.) I was never in any peril, whatsoever.
When people thank me for my service, I tell them, " Save it for those, who put their lives on the line". It's not false modesty, those guys did give all they could.
If you were in the service, do you consider yourself a "Vet"?
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Absolutely. Military is one of those careers where you most definitely may "not come home at night." Be it combat, combat support or combat service support.

Military is structured to kill someone or something. Often in the most efficient and violent manner possible. And often indiscriminately. Missions require performance of duty around a variety of high-performance devices - any of which may inflict great bodily harm, be they friend or foe.

So yeah, you serve. You're a vet.
 
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I think I am pretty open minded on this point. I have buddies that I served with in Vietnam, and I have friends who served in other places. On the last day of artillery training at Ft. Sill OK our units orders were revised. In most cases we had already told family that we would be going to Korea. The revised orders directed all but three of us to Vietnam.

Upon coming home the welcome was really a bitter pill to swallow due to the protests and anti-war sentiment. I don't think I was much different that other returnees, I kept silent about the experiences, and instead tried to put my life back together for my wife and son that I had been away from. I was a draftee, with a wife and child at home, and my wife was seeing that evening news report wondering where I was and what news there could be about me.

As years went by I tended to bury the bad parts and got busy going back to school, then entering into a world of corporate career ladder climbing. As far as considering myself a veteran or not I pushed that to the back of my thoughts. Now I'm retired, our kids are grown and pursuing their life's work and family life. The people around me who were in the military however their service was assigned, I consider them veterans the same as me. Many of them didn't want to be in the service but accepted the responsibility and served.

When my life moved into this current less hurried routine, I had to confront those personal demons that only visited me in the still hours of the night. I've found that through my contact with the VA, that I might have some unseen wounds from my experience, but there are many who served along side me who had it much worse than I. I went on to have a successful career, raised four genuinely good children and still my bride of 57 years dolly. If you served, where every, however, your a veteran in my opinion.
 
My Uncle and I argue about this. I say I am NOT.... He did 3 tours in Vietnam as a marine. The most dangerous thing I did was guard an ammo dump at Fort Jackson. Due to circumstances I was discharged after a year.... I continued to serve my community as a Paramedic for 36 years.
 
I have a good friend who received a head injury during basic training. As I understand it, he was discharged because they feared some sort of legal problem. The discharge was honorable. When other friends in our circle would attend a veterans breakfast he would not because he did not consider himself a veteran. I offered him my opinion that it was no different than anyone else who served. He enlisted, he served, I consider him a veteran, and also honorable to a fault. Still a cherished friend.
 


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