....IMHO it's pretty clear cut.....no one in 2003 would deny veteran's status to present day Army truck drivers, cooks, mechanics, bandsmen, medics, welders ect....they're not any different than the cooks, teamsters, grooms, litter bearers, ferriers, smiths, butchers, saddlers, harness makers ect of 165 years ago....without those kind of people neither Lee nor Grant could have kept an Army in the field very long....