I’m a veteran, but no combat exposure.
I don’t associate the peace sign with anything other than a wish for peace. Who wouldn’t want that, (all things being equal)?
There was a time I found hippies amusing, now I completely detest them. But to me, they haven’t taken ownership of the peace sign, nor do they own the idea of peace. They’re just dirty, lazy, traitorous scum.
My friend Joe, who passed away earlier this year, was an artilleryman in Vietnam (’68-’69) and he had a peace symbol accompanied by “Peace On You” on the 105mm howitzer he manned. He said it was for the irony as well as the “peace” a 105 shell brought to the enemy.
Like a lot of vets, he seemed pretty tolerant of the morons back then. Even until recently, he said, “People have to learn to be morons before they smarten up; heaven forbid they should learn from the mistake of others.”