"About three-in-ten veterans (29%) had combat experience at some point in their military career. The share is markedly higher among veterans who served after 9/11. Roughly half of post-9/11 veterans (49%) have had combat experience, compared with 24% of veterans who served only before 9/11."
https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2019/09/10/deployment-combat-and-their-consequences/
I cannot find a breakdown between those who carried weapons and those who wrote articles following the armed forces around.
https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2019/09/10/deployment-combat-and-their-consequences/
I cannot find a breakdown between those who carried weapons and those who wrote articles following the armed forces around.