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Recently a car I hadn't notice before came into our office it had Vietnam Vet stickers a vanity plate with the person rank and the word Vet or Viet, I forget. As a Vietnam veteran myself I was curious as to who the car belong to. When I inquire I was pointed to an older gentleman and when I approached him about his car I was thoroughly rebuffed from asking him any questions, which I thought was rather strange considering all the signs on his car. Later while leaving the office I noticed him sitting in his car, this time wearing a Vietnam Veteran baseball cap, when I tried talking to him again, I was again met with hostility, so I just dropped the issue.
Personally, I don't wear any service related apparel and I definitely don't have anything on my car announcing my veteran status. I understand guys who who don't want to talk about their service. I get that in spades, but I've never met someone who broadcast their service so blatantly and who was so hostile to even the simplest inquiry.
Any thoughts because, I'm sort of pissed off about the whole experience.
I don't think there's anything wrong with wearing attire/having auto decals/veterans' plates, etc. that note your military service at all. I get that some are uninterested in doing so, but I don't think that those who do are doing so are generally doing anything out of bounds or obnoxious.
I will say that in my experience, those who are uninterested in talking about prior service, and/or who are vehemently opposed to revisiting anything about those experiences, are usually NOT the ones wearing the baseball caps embroidered with their ship or the Semper Fi bumper stickers or the like. So, yeah, I would find it odd if somebody wearing the trappings of a veteran was then hostile about someone commenting on what's presumably a veteran status.
I wouldn't cry "stolen valor/fake vet," necessarily, I'd just wonder why they have this stuff and wear it out, if they're of the "Yeah, I don't talk about that part of life," persuasion.
What do you mean by "older gentleman". He would have to be in his 60's (my step sons age who was in Nam (Navy).
W/O knowing his age it could have been a son's car or a family car etc....hard to say what. I doubt a elderly man would go thru all of the stickers etc......we are a bit senile at times but once in a while one might get thru the cracks.
I wear my WW11 or my Korea Cap once in a while and will acknowledge any person wearing the same as they do to me....just a sign of respect or a friendly nod.
Friend and I saw a man with a Arizona Cap from Pearl Harbor. My friend went over and asked the gentleman if he was on the Arizona whereupon he said that his son gave him the Cap....so a person never knows.
Perhaps he served during Vietnam but didn't see any combat nor even left the states. I have a US Navy Desert Storm veteran license plate. Funny thing about these license plates, they require DD 214. Don't need DD 214 to buy a sticker or non-license plate veteran plate. You don't want to talk to veterans about your service you don't advertise your service.
I live in a city that has a big population of active duty and ex service people. Most of the folks I see who advertise with the military logos on hats and shirts are the homeless.
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I use veteran plates, because there's a good chance that the officer who pulls me over could be a veteran and therefore more lenient. Otherwise, only friends would know.
That is odd. I'd think that most people who advertise it wouldn't mind talking about it. I once met a Vietnam vet at a convention (wasn't wearing anything military related) and saw a vet in his Vietnam hat. He said "Hey, I was a (maybe combat engineer? Not sure) in Vietnam, I like your hat" or something to that effect. The guy kind of looked at him, shrugged, and kept walking.
This is very strange. Why advertise it if you don't want to talk about it?
I'm in the process of obtaining veterans plates (though nothing specific...just that I'm a veteran). I'm looking forward to talking about it when people ask me!
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