Faine Greenwood: This is also why so many actual veterans who are women and non-white report getting regularly questioned about if they “really served” when they try to use the benefits they’re entitled to. GOP voter’s performative worship of veterans is very often predicated on those vets being the “right kind.”

This is also why so many actual veterans who are women and non-white report getting regularly questioned about if they “really served” when they try to use the benefits they’re entitled to. GOP voter’s performative worship of veterans is very often predicated on those vets being the “right kind.”

I cannot possibly express how much I loathe performative Republican bullshit when they find out I’m a veteran. They automatically assume I’m a racist, gay-hating piece of shit like they are when they find out too.

“Thank you for your service” is like nails on a fucking chalkboard now. No I don’t want to refinance my VA mortgage. No I don’t want to hear your racist jokes. Please fuck off.

GOP’s manifesto 2025 is telling all vets they’re expendable.

"Suckers and losers"...

Seeing that and all the listings eliminating support for women & other minorities, children, disabled, education, low income, rural, agriculture, environment… Holy shit.

Citatioms?

You mean citations? Heritage Foundation Project 2025. It’s online look it up.

Ok thanks

I got into an actual argument at the VA with a Marine who told me, TO MY FACE, that I didn't have a "real job" in the military WHILE I WAS WEARING A SEABEE SHIRT. Meaning: My unit BUILT everything the Marines used in the field. I was a welder for god's sake.

And it's been worse since I've been out "What? you're a trained welder? That can't be right, you're a GIRL."

The father of a friend of mine got the "flash" pretty bad during the rush to build the Liberty ships. He regained his sight, but for weeks they didn't know if it would come back.

flashing hurts, yo. "shudders in plasma cutting"

They’re not veterans unless they’re from the Veteran region of Iowa. Otherwise they’re sparkling service dropouts

The "right kind of X" is how they see everyone and everything. Why should it apply differently to the military?

Remember how Fox talking heads just flat out refused to accept that Pat Tillman was a leftist and an atheist?

Right? He was a veteran AND a pro football player. Utterly inconceivable to them that he might not be 100% right-wing.

and even then, they don't really care about the "right kind" of veterans either.

This. They'll wave a flag and pay lip service but the second a veteran (esp disabled) actually needs literally anything as a result of said service, the "thank you"s dry up fast.

My mom started her military career in the last of the WACs. She frequently runs into insurance issues because people assume she's a spouse rather than a veteran herself.

My aunt served just a year after the WACs were no longer a thing! She makes lists of who served in the military in our family every year and never includes herself (though she served eight years), but does include her brother who only made it through two weeks of training. It's infuriating.

2 weeks of training? My only "military experience" was in Civil Air Patrol, but that's more than 2 weeks. I dropped out because--wait for it--I was sick of being the only girl in the entire squadron. I got called "sir-i-mean-ma'am-sorry" so many times. 🙄

Yeah, they found out after two weeks he had flat feet and that was disqualifying back then. My cousin used to do Civil Air Patrol! She loved it, but likely she had a more congenial gender mix.

When I worked at the DoD as a civ, I experienced one of the most diverse workforces I’ve ever been a part of. It was amazing. I worked with Azeris, Alaskan Natives, Dominicans, Turks, French, Senegalese, Koreans, people from everywhere - because you NEED them to understand different cultures.

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