No I am not, but maybe it could do you some good to go to some anger management classes and sort out some anger problems you might have.
But on a more serious note I just don’t see how it is such a big deal to you if I don’t thank a person for doing their fucking job.
I think the OP’s point is that he probably wouldn’t be doing it without the monetary compensation; they’re not warrior monks or anything like that.
I tend to think a lot of people go a bit far in the adoration; yes, they’re potentially putting their lives on the line on my behalf, but if the need arose, there’s a huge segment of the population that would also willingly do the same, especially if the threat was grave enough.
The true warriors among them would do it anyway, regardless of the pay (or lack thereof), civilian adoration, or anything else. They do it because it’s a calling, much like being some kind of healer or builder.
Essentially what we should be saying is “Thank you for choosing this dangerous job on my behalf instead of working somewhere else in the civilian field.”
And (as a fairly conservative and pro-military person), they haven’t “defended our freedoms” in combat since maybe WWII (if you stretch a point), and I’d go back as far as the Civil War for a good example. They may have defended others’ freedoms, crushed totalitarian dictators, or stood as a peacetime deterrent, but very little of the fighting done in the last century has actually been in the defense of the US or its people.
I’ve discussed this matter rather cynically with my wife. One of my brothers is a veteran, and he can get a big head about it (particularly on facebook, ughhhh…). I feel like the whole hero worship is a little creepy.
See if it was someone who saved your life directly (or even indirecly) I could see a justified respect- the fireman/dept that put out the fire that threatened your house, the cops/dept that stopped the robber holding you hostage- or even just the Stsrbucks barista that returned your lost wallet; these are heroes because they have at least somewhat of a direct relationship with your life. But the direct benefit of some serviceman- who in his MOS could be little more than a glorified janitor, is debateable. He didnt return my wallet, drive me to work safely, resolve some glitch in the DMV, or deliver my wife’s baby. To show reverence would have the same logic as showing reverence to every profession. But we don’t do that- soldiers are ‘special’. :rolleyes:
I think the soldier worship is just a divisive way of stifling criticism. Its a very binary way to cast judgement on a person, while throwing context, politics, etc right out the window.
I’m a military veteran and, personally, I’m tired of being thanked.
Especially on Memorial Day. Dozens of people post thank you messages on my facebook account thanking me for serving, and I respond to each one saying “thanks, but Memorial Day is to commemorate those who died in service and I’m quite clearly not dead. Try again in November”.
And then they get pissed at me.
I served because I had just failed out of college and had no better prospects for the next few years; it was just my luck that Gulf War 1.0 was spooling up when I got out of training. Dulce et decorum est didn’t enter into it. Not that I’m not proud of my service, I gave my best and excelled at most of it, but I don’t feel the need to be thanked for doing my job.
This, too. It’s embarrassing when somebody posts on my FB to thank me for my service on Veteran’s Day or Memorial Day. I didn’t DO anything. Well, I sat on various rocks in the Pacific Ocean and waited for North Korea to invade South Korea, but that’s it.
My ex-wife got mad at me once during a 4th of July concert because they asked all the military vetrans to stand up, and I didn’t. Why should I be recognized? For that matter, why should 99% of the people who did stand up?
Side note: It always makes me a little sad when I see a car or truck plastered with Vietnam veteran stickers, or see a guy with a gaudy Vietnam Veteran hat. Not sad that they served during Vietnam…sad that, 40 years later, that’s the identity they choose to take and the label they feel is most important.
My thought on it, even though I rarely ever agree with the sort of missions our soldiers are sent into, is that for every person that willfully signs up - even though they get paid - that’s one less person that would need to be drafted if there were to be a draft. For me it’s a selfish “thanks for signing up so my family/friends/acquaintances who don’t want to sign up don’t have to.”
I’m not in to worshipping people and don’t go nutty about thanking folks walking around in fatigues but if asked to applaud them, I’m not against it.
Just having to be away from your family for long times, or move your family around the country or around the world that much, all at the bequest of the American people (well, their representative government) deserves some extra respect. And then, being in deadly, dangerous situations on top of that? That’s just…well, they’re good folks.
My Navy vet husband feels the same. He also quickly points out that nobody in his generation is actually fighting for American freedom, but rather American geopolitical and monetary interests. Yeah, it sounds cynical, but it’s factual.
IMO, the people who truly keep us free are the civil rights activists, educators, legislators and voters. Even those aren’t all individually deserving of hero worship. There are some good ones and bad ones and the motives for doing those things are varied and often self-serving. No group deserves to be hero worshipped, rather we should recognize the individual contributions to society that stand out from the status quo: for instance, the teacher who consistently makes a positive impact in his students’ lives; the scientist who makes a breakthrough that advances the well-being of humanity; the lawyer who works diligently to set free an innocent man on death row; the ordinary people who dedicate numerous volunteer hours to improve their own communities and lives of their neighbors; those people who inspire faith in the goodness of humanity.
I think this is about right.
This is the only place I’ve found online where I can get away with saying that I do not get warm fuzzy feelings when I see soldiers coming home, because I know what awaits a huge percentage of them and their families in the years and decades to come: drug addiction, domestic violence, homelessness, untreated PTSD, suicide, unemployment, etc…
I also believe that in most cases, people who are deployed overseas should just get divorced, because they’re going to do that anyway when they return.
I’m torn, I do think that vets who were sent back to multiple tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan deserve to be acknowledged, but I also think that America has been overly militarized and I’m troubled that the military seems to be the only national institution held in high regard. It reminds me of the mindset of a country like Egypt.
I go to a lot of Nats games and every game they take a moment to thank the troops. These are military people from the area, often from Walter Reed or other local miltary hospitals who are given free tickets. I don’t begrudge these people getting a round of applause and some free baseball tickets, but I resent that I’m being manipulated with these living props to tacity endorse a failed foreing policy and a military institution that is breathtakingly corrupt at the top. Again, I don’t have anything but respect for an enlisted person who signed up and did what was asked of him/her, but I have a HUGE problem with the revolving door between the Pentagon and military contractors that has resulted in our bloated and corrupt military complex.
If all those who blow off the soldier got paid & treated by their employer the way the soldier is, I wonder if it would be OK with them to trash talk them the way the soldier is treated here and by the OP?
You’ve never heard of “conscription”, I guess? And have you looked at the pay rates for a junior enlisted man?
Please explain how soldiers as a whole are getting treated by their employer. I assume you mean that they are treated poorly
Oh, here we go again.
Junior enlised men have no expenses. They get their clothes, food, and lodging. ALL of their money is spending money, so enouch with the whining about how much/little they get paid.
Why “should”? That’s basically what people who publicly praise the soldiers or “support the troops” are saying. The “choose” part is what’s important.
In Israel, where chances are everyone around you has served in the military (unless you’re in Mea Shearim or something), and in case of emergencies will be called up to fight, there is much less “veneration” of soldiers. There is a lot of appreciation, but then it comes more from shared experiences.
I wasn’t aware that any of the soldiers in the American military of the 21st century were conscripted.
I want veterans to get their entitlements and health care, soldiers to get their pay and good treatment, and the US not to throw away their lives and the lives of whatever enemy they’ve chosen.
That’s as close as I’ll come to worship.
I feel pity for them and respect that many probably signed up with the best of intentions, but I don’t want anyone killed on my behalf ever, so why would I thank them? When you sign up for the military, you’re agreeing to be part of a machine that kills innocent people and calls it “collateral damage.” Anyone that agrees to do this gets no gratitude from me.
You’d think that the lineman who puts his life on the line to restore power to the city would be as equally worshiped as a guy who puts his life on the line fighting people who are of no threat to the citizens of said city.
Good point; I worship them equally, which is “none”.
Sure, but a lot of it is couched in quasi-religious adoration, as if these guys are literally manning the walls keeping the barbarian hordes out.
That’s I think, what the OP’s getting at- saying “thank you” is one thing, but this idea that these guys who say… served in the USAF and spent their entire enlistment in Phoenix or Tampa have done something special deserving of discounts at various places, preferential treatment, etc… is kind of absurd. And that’s true of something like 80% of military personnel- they’re the tail, not the teeth.
Even the ones who get deployed often do pretty mundane stuff; a good friend was a signals officer deployed to Iraq, and basically did IT work, and when he wasn’t working, he was apparently bored as hell and played a lot of video games. The closest he came to combat was when their base got mortared once (in the entire year he was there). He usually rolls his eyes at stuff like veteran’s discounts, etc… as well, and his respect seems to be mostly reserved for the actual combat troops who went outside the wire.