Most Soldiers Aren’t Heroes and Don’t Want To Be Called Such

After over a decade of war, President Obama sent 200 troops to Iraq this summer to act as aids to the Iraqi government in their ongoing battle with ISIS. The President’s actions, of course, completely contradict the vow he made to the American people to end the War in Iraq back in 2008, but that’s no matter now. The President is dead set on spending more taxpayer dollars and sending more American troops into an endless battle that, so far, has proven fruitless.

Yet, the futility of the mission does not preclude individual actors from acting bravely. Since taking office, President Obama has rewarded eleven Medals of Honor – twice as much as his predecessor. In the media, the American public is subject to a barrage of tales and images describing the glory of war and heroism under fire. America’s "brave men and women in uniform" are constantly heralded in ads, parades, sporting events, and on yellow ribbon bumper stickers urging fellow Americans to "Support The Troops." This hero worship has even gone so far as to use wounded soldiers as a political ploy, as President Obama did in showcasing army ranger Cory Remsburg during his State of the Union address this year. Sgt. First Class Remsburg was hit with an improvised explosive device on his tenth deployment into battle. Nobody doubts that Sgt. Remsburg is a real American hero, but should he had to become one in the first place?

There is an untold secret in our nation’s proud military. Stated bluntly, the majority of America’s armed forces are not heroes and don’t want that title themselves. In fact, I spoke with three military men and heard this theme emerge repeatedly. When asked, in his opinion, what the biggest misconception civilians have about the military, one of the three – Senior Airman Micheal Worton – claimed that being in the military is more like being a "guy in movie ‘Office Space,’ but you’re wearing camo instead of a suit." Many Americans fail to realize that the majority of service member work normal jobs like administration, accounting, and engineering without seeing combat.

When asked the same question, Marine Corps Sergeant Nicholas Mejia responded that the greatest misconception is "the idea that we are some how fighting a just war." This inflated sense of moral purpose is psychologically dangerous given how young many soldiers are, according to Sgt. Mejia. "Blind hero worship gives people a false sense of pride. These are still kids. It’s setting them up for failure and breakdown."

Sadly, this psychological damage can have spillover effects into civilian life after wartime. In a 2012 report on veteran employment, the Center for a New American Security found that half of surveyed hiring managers are afraid to employ veterans due to fear of post traumatic stress disorder. Service members are told throughout their careers that they are leaders and are getting experience in the military that gives them a comparative advantage to their civilian peers. Yet, when they return home, they struggle harder than their civilian peers to find jobs, creating a lot of confusion, anger, and resentment amongst veterans.

If the President truly wanted to honor and respect the troops, he would stop sending them off to war. This sentiment was echoed by Ret. Army sergeant Peter Neiger, a paratrooper who saw combat in Iraq and Afghanistan from 2001-2005, stating, "There may have been a war in the past that was worth fighting in, but neither Afghanistan nor Iraq are worth it at this point." Even higher-ups like Ret. Army Colonel David Sutherland have come out publicly against the US re-engaging in Iraq.

While it’s hard and painful to see the suffering in that area of the world, sending more American men and women into the chaos will not help. The US has already spent billions of dollar and lost many loved ones. We need it to end.

Of course, there are still some service members who honestly do deserve recognition. However, they are a minority of individuals in special forces, elite infantry, or find themselves in challenging combat – men like Sgt. First Class Remsburg. While civilians shouldn’t stop praising these individuals, we shouldn’t detract from their heroism by putting all service members on an unnaturally high pedestal."If you blindly worship someone because of their job, they are going to fail you and you are put into the position of defending terrible action." Sgt. Neiger observed. "It also puts stress on the soldier to be perfect, which is impossible. Soldiers will fail."

America’s endless war is one of the greatest tragedies that continues to happen. The country shouldn’t need to debate whether or not military personnel should be called war heroes because we shouldn’t have to be sending them off to wars in the first place. Sgt. First Class Remsburg shouldn’t have been sent out on a single deployment, let alone ten. Yet, even the slighted questioning of the justification of war is often met with hostility. But, as Sgt. Neiger observed, "criticism of war, or even specific military action, isn’t necessarily an attack on [soldiers]." We can support our troops by keeping them home. The two goals are not mutually exclusive.

Gannon LeBlanc is a Young Voices Advocate studying economics at Eastern Michigan University.

14 thoughts on “Most Soldiers Aren’t Heroes and Don’t Want To Be Called Such”

  1. Is it possible some of them might be waking up and realizing they are just tools and mercenaries of Zionism and fighting their wars for them? The ones that do hopefully don't re-enlist or become cops.

    1. …could ask why the specific set ('…waking up and realizing…') you're talking about should not be the future soldiers and cops. Is it important that soldiers and cops remain the-dumb-ones…? Kinda noticed someone else making a similar formulation that ran something like x official is guilty like the rest because x had plenty of chances to resign… I asked, if x knew better, why should he be one to resign? I s'pect people better suited to those positions are escaping them, quitting, and possibly rejecting offers all the time…and that could be 'the problem'…

  2. Stuff like this is where people like Adam Kokesh and organizations like Veterans against the war come in. Warmongers for years have used the "You didn't serve, what do you know.." excuse to prevent criticism and questioning of the military and the wars. When those who are told to fight, don't want to fight or question the fight it helps the cause of peace.

  3. "Nobody doubts that Sgt. Remsburg is a real American hero, but…"

    He's a hero because he was wounded while obeying the orders of the Washington Mafia? He's either a fool, a criminal, or both.

  4. Militarism is our religion and saying, "support the troops" is our prayer. It is a slogan like "they fight for our freedoms." It is all lies. It is something the ministers of Empire taught people to say and they parrot it without a thought. War in other countries is not going to restore our civil liberties to us. It is not going to protect what we have left. If people supported the troops then they wouldn't want to put them in needless danger and be protective of them. They wouldn't want them to fight wars of choice.

    Soldiers aren't heroes. They are human sacrifices who sacrifice more humans to the God of militarism. Soldiers are mere objects that people adulate while they worship Empire. It is the image that they love. They can enjoy the excitement and endorphins from the Manichean fantasy from the sidelines like a sporting event. People are real passionate about sports teams. Same deal. They don't care about the soldiers themselves. They don't care to know them beyond the image they have of them. The soldiers can be charged and executed without trial and be left for dead if they go against the narrative. Just look at how these soldier worshiping animals treated Bergdahl. They would violate the maxim "no man left behind" in a heartbeat. He didn't fit into their militaristic idol worship so he was scapegoated and if they had their way be cast out. He would still be in Afghanistan if they had their way. These people (addicts) get emotional rewards from being self righteous and completely wrong.

  5. Volunteers to fight unjust wars aren't heroes, just the opposite. They aren't sacrificing, they are choosing what they want to be.

  6. I'm not simply making a point. What's more a few occupations can be weight inciting yes most presidents go ash haired from the anxiety yet when you have exists at stake consistently, when you need to see the things that can't be demonstrated even in adults-only films.

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