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  1. #1
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    Why do Americans 'tend' to idolise their soldiers?

    This question is NOT meant as an insult. I am not trying to ridiculise or make fun of Americans in any possible way.
    Im just asking this question because it is something I tend to notice on American news etc ( NO generalisation).


    The question is quite simple: why is their so much idolisation of soldiers in America?
    ( War heroes, saviours, true patriots etc )

    Where I come from ( generic European country)giving such attention to our 'soldiers' would be extremely uncommon. We do have soldiers but what they spend their days doing... only God knows ... Whatever it is theyre doing, we do not spend any second of our lives thinking about it.

    Average soldier here gets just as much recognition as the average policeman: you know they exist and that they somehow improve the safety of your country, and thats about it.

    Not only in the news, but also in TV-shows: CSI- ( random American city), NCIS... they treat American soldiers like heroes.

    I would love to know what 'caused' this.

  2. #2
    I think it started off with the veterans movement that ended up occupying Washington many decades ago.

    I think though that Americans have a point, people who are willing to put their lives on the line for their country to deserve considerable respect.

  3. #3
    Merely a Setback Reeve's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by matiasve View Post
    This question is NOT meant as an insult. I am not trying to ridiculise or make fun of Americans in any possible way.
    Im just asking this question because it is something I tend to notice on American news etc ( NO generalisation).


    The question is quite simple: why is their so much idolisation of soldiers in America?
    ( War heroes, saviours, true patriots etc )

    Where I come from ( generic European country)giving such attention to our 'soldiers' would be extremely uncommon. We do have soldiers but what they spend their days doing... only God knows ... Whatever it is theyre doing, we do not spend any second of our lives thinking about it.

    Average soldier here gets just as much recognition as the average policeman: you know they exist and that they somehow improve the safety of your country, and thats about it.

    Not only in the news, but also in TV-shows: CSI- ( random American city), NCIS... they treat American soldiers like heroes.

    I would love to know what 'caused' this.
    Because they're willing to fight and die so that I don't have to.
    'Twas a cutlass swipe or an ounce of lead
    Or a yawing hole in a battered head
    And the scuppers clogged with rotting red
    And there they lay I damn me eyes
    All lookouts clapped on Paradise
    All souls bound just contrarywise, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by matiasve View Post
    This question is NOT meant as an insult. I am not trying to ridiculise or make fun of Americans in any possible way.
    Im just asking this question because it is something I tend to notice on American news etc ( NO generalisation).


    The question is quite simple: why is their so much idolisation of soldiers in America?
    ( War heroes, saviours, true patriots etc )

    Where I come from ( generic European country)giving such attention to our 'soldiers' would be extremely uncommon. We do have soldiers but what they spend their days doing... only God knows ... Whatever it is theyre doing, we do not spend any second of our lives thinking about it.

    Average soldier here gets just as much recognition as the average policeman: you know they exist and that they somehow improve the safety of your country, and thats about it.

    Not only in the news, but also in TV-shows: CSI- ( random American city), NCIS... they treat American soldiers like heroes.

    I would love to know what 'caused' this.
    Despite your disclaimer, the question still remains loaded. American serviceman/women are like any other people. Like your generic EU country, we don't spend any second of our lives thinking about it. We're not war mongers.

  5. #5
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    GI:Joe Cartoon and Action Figures.

    America has a long history of war, starting with the fight for independence from England. The idea is that soldiers are fighting for you, the average citizen, in hopes of securing and maintaining the freedom we enjoy. Why wouldn't that be considered noble and hero-worthy?

    That said, I don't think about it on a daily basis either.

  6. #6
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    In this country we are not given any special treatment, but whenever I visit the USA and go out in uniform I never pay for a drink. They love Brits in uniform out there, must be a novelty thing. Free drinks and all they ask for in return is that I talk to them in my accent, bargain!

  7. #7
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    Generic Europien country? Have you heard of Remembrance Day?

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by matiasve View Post
    I would love to know what 'caused' this.
    The World Wars 1 and 2, shortly following each other and devastating our countries, taught most "generic European countries" that war really, really sucks and that we should try out something new for our continent, like peace and cooperation. What you experience is more an exception to the old rule of idolizing the military.

  9. #9
    Because we have (in theory) an all volunteer force. Our military is comprised of people who knowingly put their lives on the line, day in and day out, some times for ungrateful foreign nations, by choice.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by RICH1471 View Post
    In this country we are not given any special treatment, but whenever I visit the USA and go out in uniform I never pay for a drink. They love Brits in uniform out there, must be a novelty thing. Free drinks and all they ask for in return is that I talk to them in my accent, bargain!
    But this is not idolization. This is about people THANKING for doing what we don't. For putting their lives on the line so that we don't have to. It's a sign of respect, not idolization.

  11. #11
    I don't idolise them. I feel sorry for them. Instead of working for the US....they are actually working for corporations. America is a corporatist society...most of washington is bought and paid for by wallstreet and corporations - like those that are part of the military industrial complex. They are the ones that profit from war and urge Obama to keep sending us to war.
    Iran, taliban, whatever bogeyman over in the middle east, poses no threat to our freedom....our own government does. These endless, illegal, unnecessary wars are all for money and oil etc. Our soldiers and their family suffer the most.
    If they really wanted to "fight for our freedoms" they would disobey their commanders and march on washington.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by anyaka21 View Post
    But this is not idolization. This is about people THANKING for doing what we don't. For putting their lives on the line so that we don't have to. It's a sign of respect, not idolization.
    I dont care what it called, I am still grateful for free things.

  13. #13
    Even though i am only 16, each time i see a soldier i try to sort of say hi to them, or shake their hand and thank them for what they do, even though i've never met them before. Simply because these guys put their life, and family life, on the line so that we won't need to.

    My respect for a soldier is boundless

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Porcell View Post
    America has a long history of war, starting with the fight for independence from England. The idea is that soldiers are fighting for you, the average citizen, in hopes of securing and maintaining the freedom we enjoy
    But who is attacking your "freedom"? Wouldn't real protection of your country be securing the border and shooting everyone who isn't welcome (including Mexican drug-dealers and illegals)? Protecting some obscure base or embassy or even private business abroad isn't defending your country... Protecting=defending against invasion. When USA had enemies who tried to invade American mainland (again - no embassies or abroad military bases) ?

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by twh View Post
    I don't idolise them. I feel sorry for them. Instead of working for the US....they are actually working for corporations. America is a corporatist society...most of washington is bought and paid for by wallstreet and corporations - like those that are part of the military industrial complex. They are the ones that profit from war and urge Obama to keep sending us to war.
    Iran, taliban, whatever bogeyman over in the middle east, poses no threat to our freedom....our own government does. These endless, illegal, unnecessary wars are all for money and oil etc. Our soldiers and their family suffer the most.
    If they really wanted to "fight for our freedoms" they would disobey their commanders and march on washington.
    Tin foil caps..............

  16. #16
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    Is it a bad thing? The men and women of our Armed Forces have fought and died for the freedoms we enjoy every day. They deserve our praise and respect.

  17. #17
    Americans I think tend to hold military personnel in high honor becuase of many factors. But one factor is that after the Vietnam War, many soldiers were not treated right when they returned home. It had to do with the Peace Movement. There were lots of bad feelings about returning soldiers who were thought of as "baby killers" etc. I think Americans don't want that to happened again. Of course giving your life for your country is a very high honor in my opinion.

  18. #18
    It's part of our society - we glorify the warrior.

    What caused it? My best guess is political motives in the past, but it's been deeply sown into our society at this point that it's no longer about that anymore. It's very similar to the idea that a part of growing up in America is owning a car; an idea marketed hard enough to the point where it's a part of our society now. Whether that's bad or good is up for interpretation.

  19. #19
    Its a response to what happened during Vietnam, where the soldiers received alot of hate for something they could not control. The interesting thing is if you ask almost any soldier, they do not like this attention, and don't feel they deserve it. They want to be treated like anyone else. The "protecting our freedom" is just a line that has been repeated so much that nobody really looks at what it means. Iraq was not a threat to our freedom, and I would argue that our government's response to Bin Laden has infringed more on our freedoms than anything he would have done.

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by jaelrin View Post
    But who is attacking your "freedom"? Wouldn't real protection of your country be securing the border and shooting everyone who isn't welcome (including Mexican drug-dealers and illegals)? Protecting some obscure base or embassy or even private business abroad isn't defending your country... Protecting=defending against invasion. When USA had enemies who tried to invade American mainland (again - no embassies or abroad military bases) ?
    The Afghanistan war is definitely the result of trying to protect our country. We were attacked and we responded by taking out the safe haven of the people who were attacking us. Many Americans (not I) also believed that the Iraq war was justified because they thought there were WMDs being produced by a nation who had every reason to want them used against the US. I thought the Iraq war was absurd from the beginning, personally, but it was still seen as a defensive war within the US when it was initiated.

    The US has every reason to want to have a strong standing military to protect us from very real threats in the world. We respect the people who are willing to put their lives on the line in service of our nation. Not all the wars we've been involved in have been just, but that's the fault of our politicians, not our soldiers.
    'Twas a cutlass swipe or an ounce of lead
    Or a yawing hole in a battered head
    And the scuppers clogged with rotting red
    And there they lay I damn me eyes
    All lookouts clapped on Paradise
    All souls bound just contrarywise, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

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