Has military hero worship gotten out of hand?

[bowchikabow]

So how many more torture chambers and dead kids does it take for you to win a war where you have a trillion dollars at your disposal, a ten to one manpower advantage and total aerial supremacy?

Maybe you should have tried have poisoning all the unborn children like they did in Vietnam.

Maybe the enemy should stop using the children they kidnap and abuse as human shields while they conduct campaigns against troops? I personally think that the Geneva Conventions should be redone to address the new world threat of non-military identified combatants and manner in which we engage.

Some people may have a soft stomach for it, but the fact of the matter is: The more we hamstring our troops, the greater danger they are in. I am not suggesting wanton killing of civilians, but we need to be realistic about the fact that, in war, there will be collateral damage, and collateral lives lost. We as a nation used to be able to stomach it.. People have gone soft since then.

[ro9ue]

Has military hero worship gotten out of hand?

Don't get me wrong they should be honored for their service, but is it going over the top to the point its over compensating and not really about them for too many.

Not just military, police, firefighters and yes teachers or nurses. Is the term hero being thrown around too easily?

Please feel free to tell me off. But Id especially like to hear from those that serve. How would you prefer to be honored and not.

Those who were risking their lives deserve it. But if like, I packed rations in a warehouse miles away from safety in the military... not so much.

[helebelemon]

It doesn't really matter as practically nothing marginal comes with the word with the exception of some individuals polarized by media.

[Deleted]

The armed forces has always been a cross-section of society as a whole. What you are actually complaining about is society now as compared to past. While I agree that recruits have some of the disadvantages you listed, I also believe in general that they have the advantages of being overall more intelligent, more apt to think outside the box when problem solving, and forcing the "status quo" to evolve with the times.

I'm complaining about both. Our young seem to have less and less to offer.

I completely disagree with you on that. From my experience new soldiers increasingly fail to think outside of the box. There's more hand holding than ever in the Army. More educated does not equate to more intelligent in my opinion

[Deja Thoris]

This whole buffing them up as heros is how the establishment overlords get chumps to do their bidding and further their agendas for minimal pay.

Thats my cynical view at least.

[Peebuddy]

Home Depo's here in Washington State give veterans parking right up there with handicap. I'm perfectly fine with the little gestures like that to make life a tad bit easier for servicemen and women.

[Vash The Stampede]

It's hard to argue against those who fight for your life. It justifies their actions. Even though they aren't exactly fighting for your life, but for corporations and their interests.

[Berndorf]

Yes its slightly over done now by the general pop but at the same time they are still getting screwed over by the gov't in terms of medical care and other stuff. Part of it I think was to compensate for how Vietnam vets were treated in the 70's. So after Desert Storm there was this big effort to try and treat all military people like heroes and it sort of got taken to another level after 9/11. It'd be better if we'd just stop fighting these needless wars and save their lives that way.

[dcschess05]

I'm complaining about both. Our young seem to have less and less to offer.

I completely disagree with you on that. From my experience new soldiers increasingly fail to think outside of the box. There's more hand holding than ever in the Army. More educated does not equate to more intelligent in my opinion

My experience has been with the Air Force, so your MMV. I met plenty of squared away Army personnel in the SOF environment in my limited experience with other branches. If you honestly have that difficult of a time motivating them to succeed maybe its time to try something new.

[Deleted]

Maybe the enemy should stop using the children they kidnap and abuse as human shields while they conduct campaigns against troops? I personally think that the Geneva Conventions should be redone to address the new world threat of non-military identified combatants and manner in which we engage.

Some people may have a soft stomach for it, but the fact of the matter is: The more we hamstring our troops, the greater danger they are in. I am not suggesting wanton killing of civilians, but we need to be realistic about the fact that, in war, there will be collateral damage, and collateral lives lost. We as a nation used to be able to stomach it.. People have gone soft since then.

Maybe you should stop siding with forces such as Afghan government that legalized industrial-scale child rape.

Better still stay the fuck out of other people's countries.

- - - Updated - - -

It's hard to argue against those who fight for your life. It justifies their actions. Even though they aren't exactly fighting for your life, but for corporations and their interests.

Exactly how they are fighting for your life, Jeb? (Spoiler: they aren't)

[Hammerfest]

I don't see much of this "military hero worship" that the OP and others in this thread have talked about. As for the idea that merely joining the US military isn't a significant sacrifice, I'll point out that when you are sworn in, you agree to give up certain Constitutional rights that most people take for granted... rights like the Freedoms of Assembly, Speech and, believe it or not, Keeping and Bearing Arms.

- - - Updated - - -

Personally, I don't think honorably discharged vets should have to pay federal income tax. Ever again.

You do that and the military won't have to settle for people who do things like collide their destroyers with Japanese container ships.