[FairWitness]

Warrior? Protector? Defender? Champion? Hero? Combatant? Fighter? Shield?

Whatever we call them, God Bless them for their service and sacrifice.

[CWOJackson]

Soldiers, sailors and airman.

[Az Joe]

Call them all Sub Sailors, that way we won't be downgrading any of them.

[John Beresford Tipton]

They are sometimes called "servicemen and women"

[CGASMIA68]

"The Armed Forces" may work......

[Servant of the 9]

When a DemonRat is in the Whitehouse they think of them all as "CannonFodder", or as "Household Servants".

So9

[al baby]

Awesome

[Johnny_Cipher]

Warrior? Protector? Defender? Champion? Hero? Combatant? Fighter? Shield?

Works for me.

[A Navy Vet]

1. So the word "troops" has morphed into meaning all military. So what? Works for me, unless you're addressing a specific branch.

2. Why can't Time ever get it right? While I appreciate them acknowledging our military for a change, why did they only show soldiers and use that name in the title. Guess no one pointed out to them that the WOT involved all branches, including CIA combat operatives. Could they not fit 5 or 6 people in their respective uniforms on the cover?

[CWOJackson]

American Patriots.

[river rat]

Ass Kickers

Semper Fi

[Redwood71]

Military Members.

[AngrySpud]

G.I.

[68skylark]

(I can't help smiling at the thought of what would happen should a Time magazine reporter tap a Marine on the shoulder and say, "Hey, soldier.")

This sort of thing happens all the time, only in reverse. Let the Army do something good, and reporters will often report "American Marines scored another important victory today when they. . . ." I shouldn't be too sensitive about that, but as a soldier it always bugged me. Fortunately the press is getting better -- the "embed" program helped a lot.

And when a Marine (unfortunately) screws up badly, it happens the other way. A few Marines were implicated in a rape in Okinawa a few years ago, and press reports wouldn't often call them Marines. They were "service men" -- or even "soldiers"!

[68skylark]

"Whoop-assers" isn't bad.

"Fighters" also sounds pretty good.

[Steel Wolf]

Now that we're all here voluntarily, I'd suggest the word 'Volunteers' or something similar. It would help break the connotation of war and the draft, for one thing, and it sounds more positive.

I'm also partial to the word 'Guardians'. It's slightly more formal than 'Defenders' even though they both imply that they are protectors 'of freedom', and it doesn't sound like it's short for 'Department of Defense employee'.

I really dig the word 'Crusaders' as well, if nothing else because of the ire it would generate from all over the world. Not enough euphemism for common use, though.

Old school works for me too, especially if you dig into our own heritage. I'd be happy with 'Gunslingers', 'Cowboys' or 'the Posse'. Simple, and to the point.

If you really wanted to dig deep you could go with 'Legionaries', 'Cohorts' or 'Hoplites'. I think these have a good ring to them, but I doubt they would catch on.

[Prodigal Son]

I'd go with warrior myself.

[gcruse]

"Troops" works for me. Sailors are trained on the firing range and strap on leggings to do guard duty.

[Lazamataz]

Troops.

[autoresponder]

Victors fits under GW

[budwiesest]

"A" Team

Hogan's Heroes

Dream Team