What Is a Veteran - Honoring all who served - Veterans Day graphic

Written by Todd DePastino

In the US, to pose the question is to invite this answer:

A veteran is someone who wrote a blank check made payable to “The United States of America” for an amount up to and including their life.

The “blank check” quip is not the full story, of course, but it’s not a bad start, either.

At the Veterans Breakfast Club, we depart from Title 38 of the Code of Federal Regulations to define a veteran as anyone who took the Oath of Enlistment and went through Basic Training—Boot Camp.

Then again, I know a few veterans who never did Basic. Rather, they were thrown into war without training.

And several of our VBC vets left service with less than Honorable Discharges. We don’t question their status as veterans.

That’s because the Veterans Breakfast Club is dedicated to a simple proposition: those who enter the Armed Forces are forever changed by the experience. To join the military is to be transformed. It means entering a distinct and separate subculture with its own language, ethic, traditions, and rules of behavior. These leave a lasting impact.

Those, like me, who haven’t served don’t know the rules or understand the language. The only way we can learn is to ask questions and listen to veterans’ stories. And when we do, we take away some of the perspective, knowledge, and wisdom that veterans earned the hard way—through the trials of indoctrination and the writing of that blank check.

Veterans, in turn, also benefit by answering questions and sharing stories. Life experiences demand to be shared. The harder the lesson, the greater the impulse to transmit it to others. Sharing stories can be cathartic. But stories also connect us with each other even as they educate and inspire.

This Veterans Day, we’d like to reaffirm the three beliefs that guide our work at the Veterans Breakfast Club:

Every Veteran Has a Story: No matter who they are–or when or how they served–our veterans are valued and important members of our community. Their stories are our history, and the memories they share with the VBC are treated with respect and care.

There Is Power in Storytelling: Stories connect, heal, educate, and inspire. Stories bridge the divides that separate us and benefit both tellers and listeners.

Listening is the Best Way to Thank a Veteran: To listen actively, attentively, and without judgement is one of the greatest gifts one could give. When it comes to veterans’ stories, listening is also a civic obligation, the responsibility of every citizen to those who have served in the military.

“What is a Veteran?”

To pose the question is to invite a story.

ATTEND AN EVENT
SUBSCRIBE TO VBC BULLETIN