Do you think soldiers are heroes?

Some are, some aren’t. Just wearing a khaki uniform does not make a person a hero. A private who has washed dishes for 8 months is not a hero.

You have to something heroic to be a hero – maybe be in combat, maybe save a life, fly a military jet, whatever. In other words, action, not identity, is what makes a hero.

Now, if you are asking whether the military as a vocation is morally acceptable and heroic, then I would look to society to answer that question. Society, since ancient times, has seen military/militia/armies as a societally necessary group to defend the “tribe” and thereby promote the survival of the group.

Society values the military as a necessary (and moral) group within the community. And if there heroes in the military, it follows that they have value to society.

So my answer to you is “based on societal mores, YES, soldiers can be heroes.”

Think back to VietNam days – mid 60s to mid-70s—soldiers were NOT considered heroes at that time by a lot of the population, as a result of a corrupt government and an ill-advised war. That viewpoint changed in the 90s with the Iraq War.

@elbanditoroso A lot of people did not support the Iraq War.

@elbanditoroso A big difference between Vietnam era and the current times is that the military now is an all volunteer force, as opposed to a conscripted military.

Being a soldier doesn’t automatically make a a man or woman a hero. But an untold number of soldiers perform heroic acts that civilians would never have or want to do.

@WestRiverrat – absolutely true – I was just rambling on too long in my answer and didn’t include that.

@tups – I’m think of the first Iraq War (1990) which has fairly broad support – much more than the 2nd Iraq war in 2002+

It’s a tricky question. The majority of soldiers I would say are just doing a job. If we define hero as someone willing to put their life at risk for others, then they are heroes. Heroes in the same way firefighters and policemen are heroes. Although, I know a lot of people who went into the military who didn’t really feel they were risking their lives. They were naive about it when they signed up. Young men are great at feeling like they can’t die, so they are an ideal group to pursue for dangerous work.

There definitely are people who join the military who really feel a sense of wanting to defend the country and really do internalize they are willing to risk their lives for the greater good. That is heroic to me. But, all wrapped up at the same time it can be crazy.

If soldiers are just following orders are they heroes? I would say yes. No matter what they get credit for walking into danger.

With the Iraq war maybe if soldiers had stood up and said they won’t fight it would have been heroic? To go against orders because they didn’t believe in the war. Probably the majority of soldiers did support the war. I don’t know. There is always a stray story here or there of some parent who was all gung ho for her son joining the army and fight in Iraq, and then when her son is killed she changes her mind. That sort of thing I just marvel at. So, the war was ok until your son was killed? What do they think war is?

I honestly never really use the word hero. I can’t think of hearing it in my family at all. When someone did something amazing to save others we just explain what happened. It would go something like,“he went into the burning building and saved the baby.” Like the pilot who landed the commercial jet plane on the river in New York. Is he a hero? I wouldn’t use that word. He did his job, and deserves credit for doing it very skillfully. I care about people getting credit.

I definitely don’t think joining the military automatically makes someone a hero, no. I know boys who became soldiers simply because they had no other goals for the future. In some areas (especially the South), it seems to be the default career move of boys with no future, because the military gives you options instead of you seeking out the options yourself. I don’t know anyone that actually went into the military because they wanted to defend their country.

Some soldiers are heroes, and the others just pretend to be and are treated as if they are.

Few individuals regarded as heros regard themselves as heros. Acting in a selfless manner, whether in peace or war, is heroic.

Some are, some are not. All deserve praise for their willingness to serve to protect the rest of us.

In my opinion, anybody who joins the military, no matter for what reason (no other job prospects as someone pointed out above, wanting to defend the country, etc.) should be thanked for their service. Remember that whether someone in the military ends up in an inventory supply room, doing communications, intelligence or ends up flying combat planes, there’s a good chance it’s not by choice. People in the military are tested for their various strengths and abilities, and their job assignments and career potential depend on those tests. A young man or woman who volunteers for military service may have grand visions and end up doing something boring and routine.

Anybody who volunteers for military service takes the chance they’ll end up in a war zone. Anybody who volunteers for military service takes the chance they’ll end up psychologically traumatized, dead, or worse (again, my opinion) end up returning home with a debilitating neurological injury.

All of their work contributes to our freedom. No matter what your politics, or how patriotic you are (and I am not particularly patriotic – there’s not a flag in sight in my house), our freedom is due, in large part, to the service of our military. Are they heroes? I think so. Should they all be thanked for their service? I think so and I always try to remember to thank a soldier or vet when I see one.

Quite the opposite. State employed murderers. Below child rapists. The scum of the universe.

When you talk about this freedom. Who’s freedom are we talking about? The Americans? What about the people living in the war zones?

” Heroism consists of putting others first, even at your own peril.”

It takes an act of heroism to become a hero. Volunteering to wear a uniform does not make a person a hero, but it does present more opportunities to become one.

No, it’s a career choice, no one forced them at gunpoint to serve “for their country.”
I think the real heroes are surgeons/fire crews & drastically underpaid nurses.

Some people carry out heroic acts during a war. Overall though there is nothing heroic about war.

I can’t say it better than @jca. My answer is yes.

I fail to see what is heroic about flying around the world and killing hundreds of thousands of people.

You know who’s a hero?
Ryan Gosling

They serve the state and its corporate donors. They serve in maintaining and expanding the military-industrial complex. They help arms dealers become rich. They help kill and maim people who just happen to be in the way of the state’s geopolitical ambitions.

It’s time to stop peddling the narrative that soldiers and the military are heroic. Such rhetoric is the propaganda of the imperialist and the militarist, and it serves only their interests.

They don’t fight for our freedom—they take freedom away and contribute to a more dangerous and violent world. They do not serve the nation—they serve the elites and their ambitions for power and domination.

Some are, some aren’t. However, they do deserve respect.

they only deserve contempt and being spat on.

^^ still buttsore from the ‘40s

Yeah, someone said soldiers & “The Germinator” immediately heard Nazis.

The kids may not be heroes but they are doing a job that most folks want nothing to do with. I think they deserve a little respect for that.

It’s like cops. Everybody fucking hates cops. Fucking fascist cops. The world would be better off without cops.

Until you need one.

Same with Presidents.

“The kids may not be heroes but they are doing a job that most folks want nothing to do with. ” Because I believe it’s immoral to kill others….

@uberbatman . . . So do I but there are folks out there that have no problem with killing others. In a perfect world we wouldn’t need soldiers but since we live in this one I’m glad that there is a line of defense between those who would harm me and mine.

@ucme . . . and prime ministers

@Blondesjon I must be forgetting all those wars that took place on US soil. The way I recall it is we’re the ones flying to their country to “defend our freedoms” what a load that line is…..

@Blondesjon Indeed, Thatcher had breathtaking breasts…once.

@uberbatman . . . I’m not going to argue right or wrong with you on this one. Like I said, I wish we lived in a perfect world and I agree that much of our foreign policy is pure, self-serving bullshit, but, I think that the very dominance of the American military is what has kept war from our soil in the twenty and twenty-first centuries.

@Blondesjon Can one not have a strong military without using it aggressively? Is it not possible to use your military to only defend? I mean honestly, I’m 25 and there hasn’t been a time in my life when we weren’t in some war or another.

@uberbatman . . . I wish I had the answer man. I personally agree with Katczinsky from All Quiet On The Western Front.

I’ll tell you how it should all be done. Whenever there’s a big war comin’ on, you should rope off a big field and sell tickets, yeah? And on the big day, you should take all the kings and their cabinets and their generals, put ‘em in the center dressed in their underpants, and let ‘em fight it out with clubs. The best country wins.

These are the fuckers that deserve to be jeered at and spit on, not the poor grunts just doing a job a lot of us don’t have the stones to do.

Today’s soldiers fight as a team and protect each other as a team. The military, especially the Army and Marines, train them that way. The reason is that they are sent to fight in countries that have no impact on American safety. For instance, what are we fighting for in Iraq? They are not a threat to our country, and they don’t want us there. The soldiers don’t want to be there either so when there is a fight of bombing, they fight to protect each other.

They may be heroes to each other, but have no bearing on our country’s security or our safety. The last time there were real heroes to our country was during WW2. There was a true threat to our sovereignty and to our safety. All subsequent wars were based in politics and political gain and mean absolutely nothing to our country.

So yes our soldiers are brave but their bravery does not benefit our country, it is simply a means of protection for their group. The reason the soldiers are in this position is that the job situation is abysmal for young, ambitious people. Their only chance for advancement is the military. After their enlistment, they are abandoned by their country and have to fight for their place in civilian society. This is a really shitty to run a country!

(By the way, I am speaking from the experience of 12 years in the Navy and my two daughters that served in the military.)

By default, no. I think some soldiers do heroic things and I applaud that. I do think that soldiers and the military are necessary and I am glad there are people willing to do what they do because I sure as hell wouldn’t want to do it.

What is the point of view changed from an American to an Afghan or Iraq person?

“War’s not make one great” Yoda from “Star Wars”

I’d have to consider each soldier individually, but no, to me, they’re no more heroes than any other civilian hero.

@josie Has been “crafting a response” for hours now, maybe he’s rewriting War & Peace…apt.

No. One must do something “heroic” to be considered a “hero”.

Simply being a soldier makes you just that — a soldier.

I joined the military because I was poor. I don’t need to be thanked. I did it for job security.

I’m guessing that 80% of the military does nothing heroic. Most of my career was at a desk or doing menial work like painting and deck maintenance. You need support roles for that small minority that actually does “kick down doors.”

@Blackberry EXACTLY!