[suthener]

“Important to remind people that a veteran is someone who has fought, or at least served in a combat theatre with significant risk of getting killed, not a chubby gal who got PTSD flying a desk for the Air Force while never leaving the CONUS.”

I spent twenty years in the Navy. I did a 4 year sea duty tour and 16 years recruiting. Can I please be a veteran under your standards?

[Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Not my standards, this has been said to me by multiple combat vets over the years. Your career sounds similar to my dad's Naval service -- multiple years of overseas and then a period in support of Special Operations Command, then finally as an instructor at one of the War Colleges. I saw firsthand the sacrifices he made, I didn't even know him for the first years of my life. I don't think anybody would disregard or disparage your service or his.

What I was referring to and what I think the men who said it to me were likewise is that the military has become something of a "job's program" to some people. I remember taking a class with a MA National Guardsman (who complained more than once that the Military has too many Republicans) who stated "I wear this uniform and I am an extraordinary person." No combat or overseas service, from what I recall he was fresh back from Basic Training, but he more than willing to lump himself in with those who did serve in adverse conditions. Also met a lady who had some desk job that gave her PTSD, somehow.