Unfortunately, this is the sort of thing that can be used against military funding. "Look, there no threats to our men! I mean, no enemy air force has killed one of our guys for 50 years! Why do we even need an air force, anyway?"
I've been this sort of thinking for Naval funding. By some measures, the last naval battle that the US engaged in was Leyte Gulf in 1944 (I'm sure this is a debatable point, bu the general point is there). So, if we haven't "used" our navy in over 60 years, maybe we don't need it, eh?
Let me be clear: These arguments totally miss the value of having a powerful military. But a lot of voters and politicians don't get it.
Hmmm ...maybe if they are really slicing thin, and by 'American soldier' they mean US Army. If they include Navy and Airforce in 'American soldier,' then they are wrong. As for the part about a Marine, 2 US Marines have given their lives due to 'hostile aircraft,' as I shall show. I'll start from the furthest incident within 50 years, to date:
- June 1967: Israeli Dassault Mysteres attacked the Liberty, leading to 34 crew dead. Of those brave crew, 2 of them were US Marines.
- During the Vietnam war, the USAF & USN did suffer a number of A2A losses on aircraft like the F-4 Phantoms and A-4 SKyhawks and F-105 Thunderchiefs etc against the North Vietnamese i.e the VPAF(as well as reports of Chinese and Russians). I have read of at least 16 North Vietnamese aces.
- In May 1987 an Iraqi Mirage fired a pair of Exocet ASMs at the USS Stark, leading to 37 dead.
- In the opening night of the Gulf War, Scott Speicher F/A-18 was shot down by an Iraqi MiG-25PDS, leading to loss of life. The official statement was that a SAM brought him down, by pilot witness and a CIA report confirmed the Iraqi story that a FoxBat flown by Zuhair Dawood shot him down.
All in all, there have been lives lost due to hostile aircraft, although the main thing is that with every passing year US air-superiority increased to the point whereby it had become air-dominance. The USAF was, quite simply, the most lethal thing flying without an angel's trumpet.
That needs to be maintained, because resting on the laurels of victories past is one of the best ways to ensure a very rude (and probably expensive) awakening.