When We Say ‘Combat Veteran,’ What Do We Really Mean?

[longknife]

A damned good question. Lately, we’ve had a bunch of political hacks claim they’re combat vets when they never got outside a secure compound. Yeah, I’m a ‘Nam Vet but sure as hell am not a combat vet. Doesn’t mean I didn’t get shot at, just that I did not slog through the slime chasing Charley or Regulars.


Oh yeah. They love to cite their Bronze and Silver Stars – earned for “meritorious service.” That means their bosses wanted to look good by having underlings who “excelled.” At what? Bartending?

The term ‘combat veteran’ has led to some heated vet-on-vet action, as recent political candidates have attacked each other’s service in the Global War on Terror in ways that are at best confusing to the outside public and at worst damaging to the civil-military divide overall.

More @ When We Say ‘Combat Veteran,’ What Do We Really Mean?

 

[Marion Morrison]

When you knife the village mullah in the middle of the night and exfil without detection, you're probably a "combat vet", no?

And then you're taking fire and returning it the next day.

 

[SassyIrishLass]

If getting shot at Cankles is a combat veteran....she took sniper fire

 

[regent]

During my stint at Percy Jones the veterans wore two patches, the Infantry Combat Badge and their division patch. That seemed to say it all, no purple hearts, or bronze stars.