A veteran is classified
as any person that has served for any amount of time in any uniformed
service. There's more to it than that though. There is a type of
person that comes out of a service once they've finished their time.
The military moulds you. It makes you a thinker, a doer, a decisive
individual who knows how to iron a shirt and how to polish a pair of
shoes. Even those veterans that fall on hard times have it in them to
step up when the need arises. Maybe you're a veteran. Maybe. Here's
25 signs that might help you figure out if you really are.
1. If you look at
service personnel today, and laugh at them thinking that they're being
original, you might be a veteran.
2. If you turn up
everywhere early, and classify those who turn up on time as being
late, you might be a veteran.
3. If you look at
catalogues of military kit, and consider buying stuff only to realise
you have no reason to use it, you might be a veteran.
4. If you buy kit out
of military catalogues anyway, you might be a veteran.
5. If you look at
hippies, emos, goths, skater boys, druggies, bums, and in fact
anybody who isn't in some kind of service, and wish somebody would
whip them into shape and cut their hair, you might be a veteran.
6. If you defend the
armed forces at every opportunity, you might be a veteran.
7. If you have a
strange fixation with firearms, you might be a veteran.
8. If you wow your
friends and colleagues with suspiciously accurate knowledge of
military kit and equipment, you might be a veteran.
9. If you have an
opinion on military foreign policy, and tell anyone who'll listen,
you might be a veteran.
10. If you can strike
up a conversation with anybody you feel like, you might be a veteran.
11. If you fear no man,
woman, nor beast, you might be a veteran.
12. If you can look
another person right in the eye when you talk to them, you might be a
veteran.
13. If you are proud of
your flag and your people, no matter their race, colour, or creed,
you might be a veteran.
14. If you secretly
miss the toil and hardship of serving, you might be a veteran.
15. If you openly
believe that you had it harder then the young military personnel of
today, you might be a veteran.
16. If you secretly
believe that you had it easier than the military personnel that came
before you, you might be a veteran.
17. If you have
outright respect for those that choose to put on a uniform and defend
their country, you might be a veteran.
18. If you understand
that all of the uniformed services share a common purpose and share a
mutual understanding of duty, you might be a veteran.
19. If you rip the
other services apart for being fat, lazy, homosexual, stupid, bone
headed, privileged, overpaid, etc, but would be honoured to fight
side by side with them again, you might be a veteran.
20. If you gave a
period of your life to something bigger than the sum of its parts,
you might be a veteran.
21. If you ever
referred to yourself by your last name, or simply a number, you might
be a veteran.
22. If you have many
friends from the far reaches of the country, you might be a veteran.
23. If you ever stood
on a gate, in the rain, and questioned your life choices, you might
be a veteran.
24. If you live your
life by a moral code, that few civilians understand, you might be a
veteran.
25. If you have a
strange relationship with alcohol, that few civilians understand, you
might be a veteran.
So, there are 25
reason. Feel free to add your own. What do you think makes a veteran?
