Once upon a time, in an era not that long ago, it seemed that beards were solely reserved for flower power hippies and the villains in our Hollywood movies.
But beards have been making a major comeback in recent years, and it's not just because of Brooklyn hipsters.
Army veteran Adrian Bonenberger and Navy veteran Adam Weinstein claim that the military's recent embrace of the beard has trickled down into society.
They specifically note how the military began embracing facial hair during the War on Terror, giving new meaning to a trend that once seemed reserved for free spirits.
Bonenberger and Weinstein note in their New Republic article The Sum of All Beards that, before September 11, facial hair was rarely seen on real life or fictional heroes.
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Beards have been making a major comeback recently, and Army veteran Adrian Bonenberger and Navy veteran Adam Weinstein believe it's due to the military's recent embrace of facial hair. Donald Trump Jr is among the major political figures to embrace the beard
Instead popular culture favored the clean shaven man, the same kind that was demanded in the military. Even cowboys were suspiciously facial hair-free.
But that has changed in recent years. Chris Evans' Captain America sported a beard in an Avengers film. George Clooney has been spotting his bushiest beard yet. Even politicians like Paul Ryan and Ted Cruz are rocking major scruff.
Bonenberger and Weinstein believe that this blooming beard trend can be traced back to the Global War on Terror, which still continues to this day.
There were two reasons why beards became big in what had historically been a military that celebrated the perfect clean shave.
The veterans specifically note how the military began embracing facial hair during the War on Terror (pictured), giving new meaning to a trend that once seemed reserved for free spirits
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Ted Cruz made headlines when he suddenly began rocking a beard this year. He is pictured left in 2018 and right in April
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Paul Ryan was another politician who flirted with the idea of facial hair after years of being clean shaven
One was simply that beards were necessary to build trust with the Afghan men - who saw beards as a 'sign of manhood' - in the US' purported mission to help with the 'pacification' of Afghanistan.
There were also different rules - 'big boy rules' - for the special operations forces during the War on Terror. As certain groups, including the Seals, Rangers, and Green Berets, began getting the
