Epistemological Interference and the Trope of the Veteran

A literarily constructed trope of the veteran attributes experiential knowledge and authority to veteran-writers and immeasurably complicates their sense of audience and appropriate evidence, resulting in an epistemological dilemma for many that can lead to frustration, anger, silence, and even self-stereotyping speech that surrenders individuality for the easy eloquence that subservience to the trope enables.