Military Veteran Reintegration

Chapter 2

Definition of a veteran: the military viewed as a culture

Tiia-Triin Truusa¹, and Carl Andrew Castro^2     1Ühiskonnateaduste Instituut, Institute of Social Studies Tartu Ülikool, University of Tartu, Estonia     ²Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Abstract

The definition of a veteran differs greatly from nation to nation, having been shaped by the history of war, the nature of conflicts, casualties, involvement of the civil population in wars, and the set of sociopolitical regulations and means applied in that particular country. All these factors have an impact on who is legally considered a veteran and who is eligible for support and programs provided to mitigate difficulties ...