Well, he might have a point. I didn’t read the whole thing (and I noticed the left leaning racist crap in the first sentence), but I spent four years in the Corps, and even deployed to Beirut in 83. I am NOT a hero. Period. One does not achieve hero status by merely enlisting, and I notice that a lot of people refer to all who serve as heroes, and it just ain’t so.
Well thank you for your service . You may not think you’re a hero but you’re a better man than I am and so is my son.
Interesting point. We all know and have known soldiers who are far from being heroes. To call them all heroes is to call none of them heroes.
Ditto.
I spent 8 years in the regular Air Force, and 3 in the Vermont Air Guard.
I never did anything heroic, it was just a job.
When people "thank me for their service", I am silent for a second, looking at them very seriously, then I ask them to please NEVER vote for a democrat if they are serious about "thanking" me. Sometimes I add on that the democrats hate us.
See my post below.
I too was honored to spend 4 years with the Corps, and deployed to Desert Storm in 90. I don’t consider myself a hero either, but to the average person under 30, a person who has never been in a fight, probably never fired a gun and cannot imagine doing anything other than calling the police if they or their family were threatened, anybody who is willing to take up arms and protect them would be a hero.
But then again, consider the source, pro sports players, entertainers and politicians, also fill roles as heroes.
Thank God for people like you!
I come from a military family also, and I will never understand why people seem to treat Vets as their “betters” or as you say “hero’s”. Pride should never be a trait of a veteran.
God Bless!
I think it is a matter of perspective. To those of us who haven’t served you are all heroes. And I have yet to hear anyone who was or is by your definition a hero ever describe themselves as such. In fact what’s noticeable is their almost embarrassed humility. Your point that overuse of the word degrades its meaning is well taken. But please forgive us if we cannot help but feel and express our gratitude for a sacrifice most of us have been unable or unwilling to make.
IMHO there is something that hasn’t be brought up. Even those who only “spent” a few years in the military, active duty, reserve, or guard, did something on a daily basis that no civilian, except police and fire, have done.
We wrote a daily check to the Republic that had, in the amount section, “Everything up to an including my life”. Everyone one of us were subject to mobility. The infamous “3 AM call” wasn’t a piece of political showmanship - it was a reality for many of us and a strong possibility for the rest.
Are there true heroes in our, the military, midst? Yes, perhaps more than most other sub-tribes. But also there are a lot of heroes in our sub-tribe that say - “I am not a hero. I represent the real heroes who did more than what little I did. I also represent those heroes that didn’t come home; for they are the true heroes.”
The LMSM and academic elitists have a major problem these days; military heroes are easy to see and identify these days. The combat casualties from the Global War on Terrorism are easy to identify with their wheelchairs, crutches, service animals, and too may visual reminders of their service to fully list. IMHO it is this factor more than any other that lead to this article.
Wouldn’t it be nice if the LMSM and academic elistists who are desperately searching for something to answer “What did you do in the war against terrorism?” would remove the term “hero’ from their lexicon when attempt to degrade the Republic’s heroes who fought the good fight?
Call it what you want.
- You gave up a few years of your life for your country. It doesn’t matter if you were a cook or a desk jockey.
- You could have persued personal interests. You did an unselfish act for relatively litttle pay.
- If there is only one soldier in a hot zone, he is a target...if there are 20,000 soldiers in a hot zone, they are a presence. The solitary soldier gets the accolades, but the 20,000 are doing the same job.
- You undoubtedly experienced more crap in a year than I’ll see in a lifetime.
I have admiration for those who serve(d). If someone wants to call you a hero, I don’t have a problem with that. The author does, but I don’t.
a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal.
The "hero" label for service members is connected to this society's desire that service to the nation be regarded as noble, and a model of behavior to be emulated. Clearly, the label has been over simplified, as tends to happen when the people are deliberately dumbed-down to near illiteracy, but I believe the sentiment remains.
The act of delaying self-aggrandizement in private society by spending years in the service of one's country is a noble act. Because "noble" is a word now used to refer to how one's dog looks while sleeping in the yard, we have devolved into using "heroic" inappropriately.
I am no hero, in my mind, although I am damned proud of having served my country as a young man.
I don’t argue with them, calling them heroes. I was married to a Navy man for 23 years and believe me, he was no hero to us!
But he served. I’m proud of him for it anyway.
But for him it wasn’t dedication, just something that he did to make enough money to drink. Job security.
If called upon, he would have gone over and fought. I don’t know how that would have turned out, but he would have gone.
Ok, I will say that serving his country in the Navy was the most heroic thing he ever did.
Thank you for your service and your humility.
I believe that all who serve honorably in our military are heroes, some of greater or lesser degrees than others.
But there are also many, many “heroes” we never hear about, due to the airwaves being packed with “celebrities”, and giving them status, as if they and their beliefs are of some significance.
I would much rather see media efforts and airtime filled with stories told by those in the military and those who live humble lives helping others, who may or may not qualify as “heroes” by your definition, than the constant tripe we hear from Hollywood and similar.
JMHO
I agree. And I served as well in in Vietnam.
What really numbs me is referring to police as heroes. LEO heroes are few and far between in my book. Since when does a cop, unlike a fireman, rush into a burning building to save someone?
Cops generally put their own safety first.
It is true that to refer to everyone as a “Hero” is a watering down of the term.
My Freep Page has referenced that for years. We have plenty of real heroes in our country, many have served in the armed forces, and many have not.
Giving someone default gratitude and respect because they served in the armed forces is not worshiping them, as this pinhead who wrote the piece seems to think. It is what we owe them, those who can be called on at any time to forfeit their lives and liberty.
We OWE them that respect, until they do something to invalidate it. And it is a special case. We don’t OWE that same attitude towards politicians in general, and specifically we don’t owe it to those who suck at the government teat for decades.
I also spent 4 years in the Corps the same time as you and while I agree with you, I didn’t need to be spit on when walking down the street either.
i served in germany in the cold war. i am not a hero either. neither is the outfielder who makes a diving catch to win the world series. the term hero has been watered down, like so many of words and phrases, and usually by the left. i’m even tired of the “thank you for your service” though i am always polite and appreciate what the person is trying to express. i also believe there is a difference between being brave, being a hero, and being a role model. in fact one I DO BELIEVE MY SERVICE HELPED KEEP AMERICAN CITIZENS FREE, something this libtard doesn’t want to believe.