Wars Don't Make Heroes

[Donald Trump’s Toupée]

You're misinterpreting the word 'heroes.'

Our military are heroes, though, not because they are the next Marvel superheroes that are spreading good around the world, but because they are heroic.

They are volunteering their time commitment, putting their lives in danger, and perhaps even sacrificing their lives in order for us citizens back home to remain free, while at the same time liberating others who live in oppressive regimes.

I'm not a big military man (although my passion is indeed foreign policy and international security) in the sense that I don't think it is necessary for our President to have been involved in war before becoming our Commander in Chief. IE, I don't care if our President fought in Vietnam or not.

But to deny that those serving our country over seas are heroic, fighting battles that the rest of us are lucky to evade due to there no longer being a draft, is being pretty disrespectful and ignorant of their actions that are focused on making the nation and the rest of the world a better place.

[Donald Trump’s Toupée]

You're misinterpreting the word 'heroes.'

Our military are heroes, though, not because they are the next Marvel superheroes that are spreading good around the world, but because they are heroic.

They are volunteering their time commitment, putting their lives in danger, and perhaps even sacrificing their lives in order for us citizens back home to remain free, while at the same time liberating others who live in oppressive regimes.

I'm not a big military man (although my passion is indeed foreign policy and international security) in the sense that I don't think it is necessary for our President to have been involved in war before becoming our Commander in Chief. IE, I don't care if our President fought in Vietnam or not.

But to deny that those serving our country over seas are heroic, fighting battles that the rest of us are lucky to evade due to there no longer being a draft, is being pretty disrespectful and ignorant of their actions that are focused on making the nation and the rest of the world a better place.

Except they aren't. Individuals who happen to be in the military may do heroic things, but there is nothing inherently heroic about the military itself.

I don't fully see what you're trying to say.

When the troops are announced at baseball games, for example, why do you think the American faithful rise out of their seats and applaud? Because they are recognizing those fallen troops who have given their lives to the cause, they are welcoming back those who have returned safely, and are thanking those who remain engaged in combat in far off lands who's actions are protecting us here at home.

If our troops are heroic, then that makes them heroes.

Furthermore, I really have no idea what you mean when you say that nothing about war is heroic. Now, sure, we shouldn't idolize and worship war. But you don't think there's something heroic about toppling a brutal dictator like Saddam Hussein and freeing oppressed Iraqis (leaving the WMD and other struggles a side)? You don't think Bill Clinton going into Yugoslavia to stop genocide isn't heroic? You don't think the battle on the beaches of Normandy to stop Hitler's goal of world wide domination isn't heroic?

Remove the United States from the equation, whether it's military aid or economic aid or whatever, and the world becomes even worse.

I agree with the Wilson, Truman, Bush, et all who all believed in making the world safe for democracy. The fact that the United States engages in battles not only for self-interested purposes but also for those suffering around the world is indeed heroic and it's something to be proud of and not ashamed of.

[Donald Trump’s Toupée]

You're misinterpreting the word 'heroes.'

Our military are heroes, though, not because they are the next Marvel superheroes that are spreading good around the world, but because they are heroic.

They are volunteering their time commitment, putting their lives in danger, and perhaps even sacrificing their lives in order for us citizens back home to remain free, while at the same time liberating others who live in oppressive regimes.

I'm not a big military man (although my passion is indeed foreign policy and international security) in the sense that I don't think it is necessary for our President to have been involved in war before becoming our Commander in Chief. IE, I don't care if our President fought in Vietnam or not.

But to deny that those serving our country over seas are heroic, fighting battles that the rest of us are lucky to evade due to there no longer being a draft, is being pretty disrespectful and ignorant of their actions that are focused on making the nation and the rest of the world a better place.

Except they aren't. Individuals who happen to be in the military may do heroic things, but there is nothing inherently heroic about the military itself.

I don't fully see what you're trying to say.

When the troops are announced at baseball games, for example, why do you think the American faithful rise out of their seats and applaud? Because they are recognizing those fallen troops who have given their lives to the cause, they are welcoming back those who have returned safely, and are thanking those who remain engaged in combat in far off lands who's actions are protecting us here at home.

If our troops are heroic, then that makes them heroes.

Because people are sheeple who act in groups as society expects them to. You're deluding yourself if you think the people who stand up and applaud are acting that way for any reason other than that they've been conditioned to do so.

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No, I don't consider illegal acts of aggression to be heroic. Saddam Hussein will look like a good guy compared to the imperial theocratic hellhole we're creating over there.

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Wilson, Truman, Bush are coincidentally some of the worst presidents in U.S. history.

And LOL at the idea that the U.S. engages in these wars for any reason other than serving the interests of corporate elites and neocon imperialism.

You have realized that the United States gives the most in aid to countries in crisis, right?

You have realized George W. Bush did a lot for AIDs in Africa, right?

You have realized Clinton's actions in Yugoslavia were not self-motivated, right?

You have realized that it's perfectly fine and acceptable to act on self interest anyway, right?

You have realized that it doesn't matter if helping others isn't the main motivation, as long as it's done in the process and others can live in freer societies, right?

Well if you didn't, you know now.

[Donald Trump’s Toupée]

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.

Thank you. I was also about to discuss the definition. From Wikipedia:

Later, hero (male) and heroine (female) came to refer to characters who, in the face of danger and adversity or from a position of weakness, display courage and the will for self sacrifice—that is, heroism—for some greater good of all humanity.


And that, my dear friends, is Mission Accomplished.