I consider military heroes guys who jump on grenades to save their buddies, Guys who wipe out nests of headchoppers with a pistol and a K-Bar. Audie Murphy and Alvin York types. Yes, very rare and mostly KIA's
I do agree with you
Not every vet is a hero, but everyone who serves honorably IS deserving of respect, and IS fighting for our Freedom. Even fobbits. Even REMFs, Even wing wipers who never stepped a foot outside of North Dakota.
I understand that sentiment. But, I think there are plenty of soldiers that should be considered heroes, because they put themselves in direct risk of death or serious injury in combat. Maybe they don't rise to the level of Murphy and York, but I wouldn't set the threshold THAT high.
However, I don't think Veteran's Day is just about "heroes". Almost every veteran has made a huge sacrifices, putting their life on hold and enduring separation from their families for the duration. I travel for business most weeks, and am only home on the weekends. I miss my family terribly for those 5 days each week, but then I remember that veterans are separated for months at a time, and I really appreciate your service.
Nah, using your own logic, you're just a fisherman........
I agree with you.
Yes, it is, but let's see what Patton had to say about heroes (from yesterday's post):
All of the real heroes are not storybook combat fighters, either. Every single man in this Army plays a vital role. Don't ever let up. Don't ever think that your job is unimportant. Every man has a job to do and he must do it. Every man is a vital link in the great chain.Perhaps not a hero in the grenade-jumping sense of the word but they did give up their freedom and can be called upon at any moment to make the ultimate sacrifice. They deserve at minimum a TON of respect.What if every truck driver suddenly decided that he didn't like the whine of those shells overhead, turned yellow, and jumped headlong into a ditch? The cowardly bastard could say, ‘Hell, they won't miss me, just one man in thousands.’ But what if every man thought that way? Where in the hell would we be now? What would our country, our loved ones, our homes, even the world, be like? No, damnit, Americans don't think like that.
Every man does his job. Every man serves the whole. Every department, every unit, is important in the vast scheme of this war. The ordnance men are needed to supply the guns and machinery of war to keep us rolling. The Quartermaster is needed to bring up food and clothes because where we are going there isn't a hell of a lot to steal. Every last man on K.P. has a job to do, even the one who heats our water to keep us from getting the ‘G.I. S****.’