Combat Vet… or Poser?

“How would I know if someone was in combat?”

Well, it’s like this…

You can easily spot combat veterans by carefully observing their stoic gaze into the distance, their conscientious choice of sitting facing the entrance of a room to see if their vanquished foes suddenly appear in a quest for vengeance, their vocal and profane hoarse commentary on fireworks, politicians, love of the M1911, and/or “back in the ‘Nam/’Stan/trenches/days of horseback pillaging,” or their steely wit and gallows humor. These guys will proudly wear an amalgamation of duty and dress uniforms, with carefully misplaced ribbons, rank, and other accouterments in a deliberate effort to conceal their participation in G-14 classified missions for three-letter organizations so secret they have never been fully brought to public attention. They crave attention for their covert past, and will gladly tell you about their sorrows with a reluctant eagerness…

Oh… you mean real combat veterans, not those guys…

Yeah, that one is a bit trickier. See, actual combat veterans are complex and simple at the same time. They may or may not share their experiences… they may or may not even allude to the fact that they served. They dress with distinctive tells of their past (some prefer wearing their issued boots still because they are broken-in and functional), or they intentionally distance themselves from that regimented and regulated lifestyle as much as possible. They are creatures of habit or free spirits. They dress like students, they dress like housewives… or in a suit or a tie; some have changed their hairstyles so many times they don’t know what they look like… Some try to forget while others write their experiences out on blogs…

Some of them might be much closer than you think…

The interesting part of this just occurred to me: what difference would it make to know if someone was in combat? There are some experiences which are sometimes best unspoken. Similarly, there are bonds between service members that are difficult to understand for those who have never been in situations where those bonds are first formed. And the humor…? Yeah, combat vets can have a very strange sense of humor that can come across as… repugnant, vulgar, pre-adolescent, crass, unsophisticated… yet funny as hell.

How would you know if someone was in combat?

Simple and honest answer: ask. Listen to what we say without judgement; read what we write without bias… Some may answer and others – like myself – will tell you a story or two.