Since I was never in combat, I don't consider myself a veteran.

[NightTrain]

I served honorably, but I think of the veterans only as those service people who fought in a war. Am I wrong to feel that way? :shrug:

Oh, and here I am at age 20:

[Iver Johnson]

1. You are a Veteran,

If you served this country in uniform. Those who have seen the elephant are "Combat Veterans"

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. You are a vet sailor

and one more thing, truly count yourself lucky... at least you get to sleep... some of us don't

(For the record I did serve but not in Ameircan uniform)

[hollywood926]

3. You are absolutely a veteran...

Sailors/soldiers serve in many non-combat capacities, from mess cooks to yeomen - all are necessary to the success of the military. You are a veteran. And a handsome one. :-)

[pleiku52cab]

4. Hell Yes

[Mountainman]

5. Yes, you're wrong

I fought in Vietnam and it wasn't my choice. I was drafted and sent over by my "fellow citizens"

You probably did not choose the duty you had either but you served your country the way your "fellow citizens" asked you to do and you are a veteran because of it.

[Birthmark]

6. You are a veteran.

But I know what you mean. I probably feel similarly.

[billyoc]

7. You are a veteran. There's a specific term for "combat veterans"

But I do feel the same way you do. ;)

[newscaster]

8. I was in combat

and I consider you as much a veteran as any other soldier, sailor or airman. Each man in the service, by virtue of his specialty, has a mission to perform and without that man, an operation can go down in flames. You may have been in a support role but that support role was not created just to keep you busy. It was created because it was an integral part of a plan.
And if you did your part to the best of your ability, you service is just as valuable as a trooper hunkered down in the tall grass or behind a sand berm or, since you were in the Navy, scraping a hull of a ship is important to the efficient operation of that vessel as being a ships firemen or a member of a gun battery.

Don't sell yourself short. You served. You did your job. Be proud.

[cjoshuav]

10. Same situation

I never fought in combat, but I served honorably in time of war. That period of my life changed me forever, and I'm proud and grateful to be a veteran.

I'm thankful for every call I received today thanking me for my service.

-Joshua

[MichiganVote]

9. Militarily you are considered a vet. To all of us, you're a vet

So guess what? You're a vet.

[Lisa]

11. the war veterans I've talked to (various armed forces) ...

... have all told me that they consider people who served honorably to be veterans, regardless of whether they saw hostile fire, and whether they signed up in wartime or peacetime. And certainly governments do, when they have a "Department of Veterans' Affairs", for example.


"Hello sailor"! -- admit it, folks, NightTrain makes government-issue look GOOD!

[UTUSN]

12. A Vet Is a Vet. You're a Vet.

I congratulated her about her spouse's service, two years in the Nav. She replied, "He's not a veteran, he was only in for two years." I said, "Of COURSE he is!!!!!!!!!!!" It was funny if you were there.

[Ducks In A Row]

13. Was in the military, didn't see combat, and I'll crack the teeth...

of anyone who dares to say I'm not a vet.