The black and white is a bit much here. There are many shades and applications of warriorship, in daily life and in actual bullets warfare. Taking offense because the word warrior is applied to the attitude of a pro football player andrequiring it to be applied only to military SF is absurd.
Let me ask you something - is Marcus Lutrell's mother a warrior? What is the difference in warrior status between Marcus, an F-18 pilot, and someone who works in cryptonalysis decoding information and analyzing it, knowing that the lives of Marcus, the F-18 pilot, and Marcus's mother are utterly dependent on his not screwing up?
Waht about civilian air traffic controllers? What about people who refuse mob offers and graft in business? What about people in college who are offered inside tracks on jobs, money and even cheating, and refuse? What about nurses working below wage and staying with a small community because they are needed? Are they warriors?
Oh yeah, and BTW, that also includes people who grow up in Compton watching their friends die in gangs and drugs, and somehow fight for their own integrity enough to get into Stanford and go on to a higher degree, and, in addition to that, play pro ball at the level of making a game-winning play to get into the superbowl.
On behalf of the billions of wrriors in the world who do not get the specialized training, total support, acknowledgement, best equipment, optimized plans, and massive backup that SF warriors get - and I do acknowledge that even with all of that, they are true warriors - I suggest you reconsider your absolute definitions, just a little.
“...taking offense because the word warrior is applied to the attitude of a pro football player and requiring it to be applied only to military SF is absurd. ...”
I didn’t “take offense”.
But comparing a football player - an entertainer - to a Warrior who willingly risks his life every time he steps outside the compound is to my mind, what is absurd.
Talk to me about the dangers Sherman faces, versus 40-odd SEALs and other personnel on a CH47 Chinook getting shot down by RPGs in Afghanistan, and then tell what’s absurd.
You can see things anyway/however you choose to, friend. That is what an “opinion” forum is all about. That yours happens to disagree with mine is just the way it is.
If potentially watching the next sunrise from inside a body-bag is not an occupational hazard for you, you’re not a warrior.
What's the difference between a REMF who does crypto analysis and an F-18 pilot? Easy...one is a REMF who does not risk his life on a daily basis, fighting his nation's battles, and the other is.
There are no civilian "warriors". Boxers are boxers. Football players are football players. Thugs from Compton are thugs from Compton. Combat arms soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines are warriors...no one else.
Words mean things.
Old Glory (a song for Michael) by 10 Pound Test
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!