Beet
Atlas Star
Posts: 29,006
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« on: July 22, 2010, 11:16:40 PM » |
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It depends on how you define hero. Definitions range from "a highly admirable person" or "one who shows great courage" to the somewhat more specific "one who willingly puts themselves in existential danger to help others." By these definitions, some troops are heroes, but not all troops are heroes. But recognizing a hero does not mean being blind to the horrors of war or the moral ambiguities therein. It may simply be a recognition of fact that this or that person risked their life in the service of others.
In most cases, 'others' of course is not likely the abstract American people, as civilians like to think, but the mates and fellow soldiers of the moment. Some may even join the combat forces for the pure joy of being in danger and fighting or even killing. So it is really impossible to say whether a person is a hero or not. But for understandable reasons, most civilians treat volunteer military fighters who have returned from combat as heroes. So it has always been.
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