White 1

The Quiet Professional: Fighting the Stigma of the Shattered Veteran

By Troy White

In today’s climate of perpetual warfare in one part of the planet or another there is a good

chance that most anytime one person interacts with another, one of those people’s lives has been

affected by the this chaotic and ever tumultuous quagmire in the Middle East, and the wars that

touch it’s shores. A lot of time has passed since the attacks on the World Trade Center, and it

seems like since that time, America has been in a state of war. The heady days after the attacks,

when the world was united with America to crush it’s enemies with swift retribution has changed

the way America conducts itself in the world. Those days people were so ready for retribution

and the annihilation of America’s enemies. People impatiently waited for news and information,

and when the first trickles of information started dripping in of bearded warriors riding in the

desert, with “embrace the hate” patches on their uniforms, America fell in love with the men who

were intent on taking down the enemy with all haste. As the war dragged on, Americans began to

forget the war. No more than a dull rumble in the conscious, the war had been put on the back

burner in favor of domestic issues such as immigration and the economy; however one thing

remained, the love of the fighting men and women of the Armed Forces. Veterans who came

home were constantly recognized for their service, and for their sacrifice, and legislation without

end supposedly gave them benefits beyond anything they had received anytime in the history of

the nation. Politicians ran on platforms that promised that our veterans would be taken care of,

and would not be abandoned. Indeed, veterans by far have the most help of any group, receiving

education benefits, home loans, medical benefits, and even employment preference in most jobs.

The argument can be made that veterans deserve these benefits, and rightfully so. However, this
 White 2

preferential treatment began to seep into the veteran mentality and this state of mind has been to

the detriment of the veteran community as a whole. Four things to look at in judging this issue

are the mentality of veterans and fighting men and women, the issue of veteran entitlement, why

this is a detriment to veterans, and how veterans can become the quiet professional that they

should be.

Young men have been drawn to soldiering since the beginning of warfare. It is an

honorable profession. A man or woman can take pride in knowing that they have served their

nation with distinction and honor. The mentality that a person accrues upon serving affects every

portion of their lives. These fighting men and women tend to live their lives by a code of conduct

know as The Warrior Ethos. Steven Pressfield wrote in The Warrior Ethos, “The American

military is a warrior culture embedded within a civilian society”(Pressfield).Veterans tend to

hold on to the military way of life, even after leaving the military. Pressfield describes the

differences this way, “Civilian society rewards wealth and celebrity. Military culture prizes

honor….A warrior culture trains for adversity. Luxury and ease are the goals advertised to the

civilian world”(Pressfield). These tenants of the warrior culture are inculcated since the first day

of basic training. Why then do veterans begin to think with a sense of entitlement about the

fringe benefits associated with being a veteran? Is the 20% discount at Denny’s or the free coffee

at a gas station really worth your honor and dignity? The answer to that question lies in the

almost celebrity status that has been imposed upon the military and veteran community within

America.

Vietnam was an incredibly unpopular war. Although it was the policy makers in

Washington who were responsible for that war it was the fighting men and women who were the

public face of it. Americans still have memory to this day of the horrendous treatment of those
 White 3

veterans. With the birth of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Americans were determined that the

men who fought these new wars would not be dishonored in such a way. As a veteran I am

grateful for that, however this has devolved into a type of celebrity status for veterans where it

has become anathema to criticize or call them to account when they are in the wrong. It falls to

veterans to police their community and ensure that the image portrayed by them is one of honor

and dignity. There has been a recent spate of videos on youtube where some poor schmuck has

been caught in the act of engaging in stolen valor. The way this works is that some fellow puts

on a uniform and uses this to attain some of the fringe benefits associated with veterans. In the

videos, a true veteran will confront the aforementioned schmuck and proceed to humiliate,

berate, and in general completely dismantle the persons world. The problem arises when you

consider that the fringe benefits that supposedly he is stealing is something that, as veterans, we

are not entitled to either. The very reason this person feels that he can do that, is due to the

adulation that veterans receive. It is harmful to veterans in the sense that if adored, such as they

are, it leads to a sense of entitlement and to a feeling that Americans owe veterans. An example

of this mentality among veterans are the yard signs sold to veterans for 4th of July that ask

people to be courteous with fireworks.The Havoc Journal writer Scott Faith writes, “With much

respect and love to my fellow veterans who have them, I think these “be courteous” signs are a

terrible idea. The message reinforces the worst stereotypes about us: that we’re all broken, that

we’re attention-mongers, that we think we’re different and special, and that the American people

should bend to our whims simply because we served. I think that’s a bad message for us to send,

and an even worse mindset for us to have.”(Faith). And therein lies the problem; by engaging in

this behavior veterans are reinforcing the idea that they are broken and can not function in

society. Faith goes on to set the record straight about veterans and their misplaced entitlement,
 White 4

“These signs are a physical manifestation of the belief many veterans have that the American

people owe us something. Guess what folks? The American people don’t owe us shit. The

American government owes us plenty. But not the American people” (Faith) As a veteran, I can

think of no better way of putting this sentiment. Much can be said of the inadequacies of the

bureaucratic nightmare that is the Veterans Affairs and the slow, ponderous rate at which

veterans receive their benefits for education and medical care. However, to say that the people of

the country owe veterans is at best arrogant beyond belief.

Veterans already have a stigma attached to them. Veterans are so often looked at as

fragile and incapable of existing is society. The image evoked in the mind of people when they

picture a veteran is of an angry, bitter man that can not function and who will probably snap at

the slightest provocation. News outlets run pieces on local veterans suffering from PTSD as if it

is a debilitating illness which completely renders useless the person afflicted. Movies and tv

shows coming out of Hollywood portray veterans as shaky, drug addicted, shattered people. Jon

Davis wrote for Quora about the portrayal of veterans in movies says, “Post Traumatic Stress

Disorder for veterans of war isn't a real disease. It's a profitable movie trope”(Davis). PTSD is

misunderstood to such an extent that Hollywood has decided to put their own spin on it, and in

so doing they tap into the national love and empathy which the nation holds for the warriors of

the Armed Forces. Davis goes on to say, “What is the overriding moral that Hollywood movies

and television are trying to present? Basically, once a person goes to war, he is from then on, on

the cusp of losing control and murdering everyone around him if the door slams too

loudly”(Davis). Veterans have an uphill battle fighting this image, and to accept and play to this

image is hugely detrimental to veterans as a whole. Such actions, such as putting a sign in your
 White 5

yard asking people to be courteous for fireworks, or screaming at a poor sap who throws on a

uniform to get a free cup of coffee, plays into the stigma that veterans are useless in society.

The only way to defeat this pervasive mentality within the veteran community is for

veterans to police each other. Calling out this cynicism and humble bragging which elevates

veterans above other people will bring attention to the issue. There are veterans sites and blogs

such as Black Rifle Coffee Company and Task and Purpose who are doing doing good work as

veteran advocates as well as calling out veterans when it is needed. Recognition of the

underlying problem is the beginning, only then will the veteran community begin to function in

the right way. Former general, and current Secretary of Defense, James Mattis spoke glowingly

of veterans saying, “You without doubt have put something into the nation's moral bank.Rest

assured that by your service, you sent a necessary message to the world and especially to those

maniacs who thought by hurting us that they could scare us”(Mattis). What is key in this quote

by Mattis is the message is sent by one’s service. Pride of service is more vital than peacocking.

To ensure that message is not tarnished, veterans need to leave that cynical and self serving

mentality behind that paints all veterans in a negative light. Mattis continues, “You built your

own monument with a soldier's faith, embracing an unlimited liability clause and showing

America's younger generation at its best when times were at their worst”(Mattis). America’s best

and brightest have built the monument to their greatness, thus, we as veterans should avoid

demolishing it afterwards by our actions.

As a veteran myself, I know the importance of the support I have received from the

veteran community. I know the help that they can be. So it pains me to think that this community

would be hurt or demolished. As fighting men and women we embraced the concept of the quiet

professional, so why abandon that concept upon leaving the service. America should look to
 White 6

veterans as role models, and not as broken, useless men and women incapable of functioning in a

society.
 White 7

Works Cited

Davis, Jon. "Veterans, What are Your Biggest Pet Peeves In War Movies." Quora.com, 5 Aug.

2016, https://www.quora.com/Veterans-what-are-your-biggest-pet-peeves-in-war-

movies. Accessed 2 May 2018.

Faith, Scott. "Veterans, The Fourth of July, And Fireworks: Don’t “Be Courteous,” Just “Be

American”." The Havoc Journal, edited by Scott Faith, The Havoc Journal, 1 July 2017,

havokjournal.com/culture/veterans-fourth-july-fireworks-dont-courteous-just-american/.

Accessed 2 May 2018.

Mattis, James. "'You built your own monument': General James Mattis speaks to his fellow

vets." Hoover Digest, no. 4, 2015, p. 100+. Opposing Viewpoints In Context,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A435542172/OVIC?u=txshracd2500&sid=OVIC&xi

d=520efff7. Accessed 2 May 2018.

Pressfield, Steven. The Warrior Ethos. First ed., Black Irish Entertainment, 2011, pp. 62-63.