Joining the military doesn’t make you a hero (Triple Bagger)

Boston Globe ^ | 7 Dec 14 | Stephen Kinzer

[SkyPilot]

Who is a hero? In today’s America, it is someone who chooses a military career, puts on a uniform, and prepares for war. Placing soldiers and veterans on this kind of pedestal is a relatively new phenomenon. Past generations of Americans saw soldiers as ordinary human beings. They were like the rest of us: big and small, smart and dumb, capable of good and bad choices. Now we pretend they are demi-gods.

One reason Americans have come to view soldiers as our only protectors is that we have accepted the idea that our country is under permanent threat from fanatics who want to kill us and destroy our way of life. Yet we also felt this way at the height of the Cold War, and we did not fetishize soldiers then the way we do now. Perhaps that was because few were coming home in body bags.

Many were killed during the Vietnam War, though, and that did not move us to worship everyone who put on a uniform. We recognized, as all societies do, that some soldiers are true heroes — but because of their individual acts, not simply because they chose military careers. We are mature enough to know that a banker’s suit does not always reflect honesty and that a cleric’s robe may not cloak a pure soul. Yet we readily believe that the olive-green uniform automatically raises its wearer to saintly status.

At sports stadiums, many games now include a ceremony at which a uniformed “honor guard” marches in formation bearing ceremonial weapons. Then, during a break in the action, a soldier appears on the field or court, waving to the adoring crowd as an announcer recounts service in Iraq, Afghanistan, or the “war on terror.” These rituals feed the fantasy...

[a fool in paradise]

As one of the comments to this hit piece asks: "Where the heck does the Globe find these people????

http://www.apbspeakers.com/contact-us-speakers#Stephen Kinzer

[NorthMountain]

However, I do also cringe at the way the word hero is thrown around today. While I agree that anyone who puts on America’s uniform and agrees to go in harms way to defend our country and way of life is very honorable, I personally reserve hero for a select few.

Well said.

[trisham]

God bless your heroic son. God bless you, too.

I know how stressful it is to have a son over there, because my sister’s son served.

[blueunicorn6]

Name one heroic journalist from Ancient Greece.
Now, who doesn’t know about Leonidas and the 300 Spartans?
Jesus taught us that there is no greater love than that one man lay down his life for another. That is exactly what a Soldier is expected to do.
Show me any great thought about how wonderful sniveling little writers are when they rend their clothing on paper because they realize that what they do is utterly meaningless.

[NorthMountain]

my son currently serving his fifth tour of duty in Iraq.

SALUTE.

undoubtedly clad in house slippers

Snicker ...

Is there anything that Bam-Bam doesn't lie about?

[a fool in paradise]

Makes sense, he wrote a book where he decried America’s regime change around the world, including our imperialism in Hawaii.

[Old Sarge]

Now that I am no longer constrained to keep quiet, I can honestly say:

I despise these Leftist ingrates and will laugh as they die.

[a fool in paradise]

Those who are beheading “aren’t real muslims” and they “are reacting to our policies in the Middle East and Israel” (yet that doesn’t explain the Islamonazis murdering in China, Indonesia, France, Australia, etc etc.).

[onedoug]

An unbelievably stupid man.

[ExTexasRedhead]

Everyone call 202-224-3121 and voice your outrage.

[skeeter]

"Mind if I borrow your pressure washer?"

[Old Sarge]

Amen to all that.

What is it going to take to change a Leftist’s mind?

[Pollster1]

One reason Americans have come to view soldiers as our only protectors is that we have accepted the idea that our country is under permanent threat from fanatics who want to kill us and destroy our way of life.

After the Boston Marathon bombing by fanatics who want to kill us and destroy our way of life, this man hasn't figured out that there are hundreds of thousands of evil fanatics who really do want to kill or enslave us, our wives, and our children? He's a slow learner - a liberal.

[RipSawyer]

Well, he is right in the basic premise that simply serving in the military does not make one a hero. I went straight into the Navy from high school but even though I did receive an honorable discharge I was no hero and would never want to be called one. I sometimes tell people that I was a draft dodger, having joined the Navy to get that out of the way and not be drafted into the Army. On the other hand those who DID serve in combat and especially those who were injured and or disabled deserve any benefits they get and more besides. Of course not all injuries or deaths result from combat, I came within a whisker of becoming a casualty more than once by just being an electronics technician who never went near a combat zone but I still say that the Navy did far more for me than I ever did for the Navy. I only wish I had had sense enough to realize it and appreciate it at the time.

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

:: What is it going to take to change a Leftist’s mind? ::

Unfortunately, death and “the weeping and gnashing of teeth”.

[RipSawyer]

I don’t know how they do that, I have seen videos of people actually ringing up a negative balance and being given some more free food because the store is not allowed to pay out cash for someone to take food out of the store! I don’t think it works in this state, at least I have never seen any way to do it here. At any rate the only way to do it would be to just shop strictly for what is available at no cost and then store it till you need it or trade it to someone else for something or give it away to a food pantry. There is no way to take a list of what you actually need for the week and do that.

[huldah1776]

I was living in low income housing. Half of my neighbors were young Marines. If anything ever happened to me I would not have yelled “fire!” but would have yelled “Marines!” and I slept like a child.

I miss them.

[HotHunt]

Like I said, these people are professional coupon clippers. They belong to clubs and subscribe to magazines to get their coupons. They write off to companies to get them too. And they buy tons of stuff free and for low costs with all the coupons they collect. They might not be able to do it your state but they do it where my sister lives in Arizona because she does it. They do it here in Florida too.

I wouldn't have the time or patience to do something like they do but these people, like I said, are almost obsessed with this lifestyle. My sister, for instance, brags that she hasn't paid any money out of pocket for hand soap or paper towels in over ten years. Her entire garage is full of shelving, holding all of the stuff she buys and stores. Why you'd want a ten year supply of some of the stuff she gets, I don't know. She used to share some her bounty with my brother and I when I lived near her.

[dfwgator]

Well there is John Kerry......Just sayin’

[mlo]

"No appreciation for monuments, memorials, tributes, remembrances, epic poems, great literature. etc."

That's not what he's saying. He's saying that just joining the Army and wearing the uniform, without any other action, doesn't make one a "hero".

That's not really a radical notion. Joining is admirable, but it isn't heroic. Treating everyone that wore a uniform as a hero really undermines those who really were heroes, because of their action under fire or other reasons.