With the United States not having been invaded since 1812, and millions of civilians having been killed in Vietnam, Korea, and Iraq. We also spend about 750 billion on defense against middle easterners with ak-47s. I am tired of people yelling out ignorantly how we should support our troops. When they fight these useless wars(Vietnam, Iraq, Korea, Afghanistan, Panama, Grenada). All for political gain and also another factor is the military industrial complex. All the companies that build the tanks, body armour, fighter jets, rifles ect... Do you think we should glorify war and our soldiers as hero's?
Mike, you are making some excellent points, but these are very sensitive issues in your culture - which appears to adulate the military - so you will receive some quite hostile responses from other Americans.
In order that I do not elicit the same responses, if I may, I would like to answer the question in the more general, and international, sense .
Allow me to point out that I am not without my own bias in this matter, as I am the only son of a highly decorated Guards officer, who died as the result of injuries sustained in the Gulf War. In addition to which, my family is a very old military one, whose service to the Crown predates the formation of your nation. So while I try to be objective about these things, it is not without some effort.
But taken in isolation - the question " Should Soldiers Be Considered Heroes?" (Kindly note that the plural of hero is not 'heros'. :mrgreen
is relatively easy to answer. In common with a number of other posters here, I believe that only someone who does something genuinely heroic should be considered a hero. And this applies as much to postmen as it does to Major-Generals.
The question really does not involve 'supporting the troops' or respecting those who choose the military as a career. Nor does it involve the virtue or otherwise of the various conflicts in which the military are involved.
I share your concerns about the pointless wars which your nation, my nation, and many other nations have instigated, and your revulsion at the carnage wreaked upon helpless civilian populations. But these should not really be factors in the question of whether soldiers should be automatically considered as heroes whenever and wherever they serve.
Essentially, a military man who performs his duty correctly and with honour, should be respected, and one who hides behind his uniform to commit crimes against humanity should be reviled and prosecuted. Exactly the same standards should be applied to a policeman, or any other profession which enjoys authority and power.
And no, war is a terrible thing which represents a failure of the intellect, and as such, should never be glorified. But the mourning of the dead - the grief for fallen sons, lovers, husbands and fathers, and the paying of respect thereto, should not be confused with the glorification of conflict.
