I was in the military. I joined because I needed three hots, a cot and a steady paycheck.

The majority of people I served with were in a similar position, joining to escape poverty or looking for an opportunity to excel at something because they couldn't make it on the outside – whether that's because they didn't care to do more or had limited means in trying.

I think soldiers who serve in other countries, where they are drafted and aren't given benefits for their service, can be considered heroes. But in the States, not so much. And yet I have a few veterans on my Facebook who constantly bombard my timeline with how much they mean to this country, how great of a hero they are, and blah blah blah. Get over it, man. You're out of the military, move the fuck on.

I think veterans should definitely receive help and perks for their service after transitioning back into the civilian world, which isn't happening as much as it should, but fuck if some of these guys can't let go of their past and - as they would say in the military - drive on.

IMHO, this "hero" word just gets thrown around so much that it's lost all meaning and context of what a hero really is. People call soldiers heroes, but then when they come back they get the shaft. Many are homeless, uncared for, and left behind. Is this how you treat your so-called heroes? Many of these "heroes" have no other choice but to join the military because of the environments they come from, circumstances they're born into, and lives they lead. They turn to the military for a way to escape and, no doubt about it, the plethora of benefits and advantages the governments uses to lure people into joining.

I just co-authored a book that is in production addressing the issue of veterans who leave the military and have trouble transitioning to civilian life (a self-help manual). And yes, I'm a veteran myself. So excuse me if you disagree with my stance, but I do have a vested interest in this topic even though I may have an unpopular opinion about this specific matter.

I'm curious about other people's opinions about this.

SUPPORT THE TROOPS

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It was your decision to join up, ultimately. Unless you were drafted, which is obviously different.

Fight a real fucking war, like your grandparents did, and then call yourself a hero.

Tldr

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Too busy contemplating your next thread, eh?

I agree that "hero" is thrown around way too much. Somebody can be in the reserves and never seen a day of actual fighting and people would still call them a hero, when in reality they're probably only doing it for the money, and hoping they never get deployed into any real conflict.

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quote:

Originally posted by OrangestO This isn't about physics, this is about waves.

inb4 VAR

So just because you go and "fight" you should be a considered a hero?

What if what you're fighting for is for the wrong reasons? Unethical?

I got an honorable discharge getting myself kicked out of the military before my contract was up. I used certain circumstances I was in to get out of a deployment to Iraq because I didn't believe in risking my life for a cause I knew was bullshit to begin with. Half of my unit thought I was a coward, the other half thought I was a hero for standing up for what I believed in and using the loopholes within the system to get myself the fuck out of dodge.

And yea... you might ask, why did you join to begin with?

Well, at the time, I didn't think of what could result by signing on the dotted line. I had tunnel vision, focusing on the good things (benefits) I would receive. I spent a few years in the military and realized the politics of it and how much of a number I really was.

I said fuck it, and took my chances on the "outside" no matter how hard or harsh they would be. It ended being the best decision of my life.

OT: I think it's just become so commercialized to use the term hero. And because of the many lives lost and families effected by the wars, emotions run high and saying something contrary is deemed evil and unpatriotic. We're seeing how great we did in Iraq right now, though, as they're back on the brink of civil war once again. Lives lost for nothing.

I suppose, but I'd be much more likely to call someone a hero who actually fought "for their country" whatever that means, than someone who sat at a desk all day or fixed up airplanes. However, if someone wants to say they're not a hero because what they're fighting for is "unethical" that's fine by me, but I think the fact that they're risking their lives for no other reason than they were told to is pretty courageous, (or stupid, depending on how you look at it).

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quote:

Originally posted by OrangestO This isn't about physics, this is about waves.

You have to look at it from different perspectives. Do you think US politician would send their kids to the armed forces? No. If the US breaks out in full scale-war how many of the well connected would go fight? After all the well connected are the ones who benefit the most from this system. Few would go. And if they would go, they would be put in units where it is not so dangerous.

Many of the American soldiers that serve, serve to get out of poverty. Or cause they are given high end positions that will help them later in life. None do it cause this country is in imminent threat. Our safety isn't cause we have a large standing army. Our safety comes from having no borders with any actual threat.

It is smart to keep advanced weaponry and stuff to keep away potential enemies but to go and start random fights and more fights cause of the 2,000,000 man army that needs a war. Is just plain stupid and a reason why we never will quit having a force of this size.

Some say its economic. Well if we had spent 400,000,000,000 for the past twenty years on NASA. Imagine where in space we would be by now. And yes, space research and development helps more the people in this country than the armed forces have helped the American public in the past 20 yrs.

So no heroes are in the armed forces.

/rant

Soldiers cast their ethical, moral, and political beliefs aside and buy into the fighting for the red, white, and blue through and through mentally. They allow themselves to be broken down and built back up into thinking they're heroes and fighting for a worthy cause. The government preys on these individuals who don't have shit to show for their existence in the civilian life and turns them into military robots by enticing and luring them into joining by providing things they never had access to. That's why I think soldiers - generally - aren't heroes and more just byproducts of the system. Poverty leads people to look for any opportunity to escape. The government and military provides that, but at a cost. The media just fuels this machine by painting a picture of the ultimate proud soldier dying in Iraq and serving his country. And for what, again?

I mean, how many people do you think would join and risk their lives for their country if these benefits weren't available to them?

Yea, some backwood country conservatives who don't know any better. Who else?

In my book I talk about how soldiers transition back into the civilian world and feel like they are entitled to everything because of all the hype surrounding what they supposedly did for their country. You're a hero, so you should be treated as such, right?

It's natural, because you've been indoctrinated since boot camp to have this sort of "pride" in what you're doing for your country and the public just adds to it by stroking your ego and giving you praise - until you're not a soldier, anymore. I was there, at one point. Then I woke up and realized no one in this world gives a fuck about me serving, not even myself.

It's shame how many are blinded by this shit. And that's the reason I wrote this book because transitioning soldiers definitely need to know about what they're facing and the tools they can use to help them overcome the challenges of the civilian way of life. Most of these guys have never stepped on US soil as civilians in their adult life because they were recruited out of high school (recruiters prey on these kids because they are most vulnerable). A simple thing like writing a resume can be difficult. I'm glad I had someone take me under his wing in this regard.

Heroes? Nah son.

And yet a lot of soldiers lean on that crutch in the civilian world. It's very tiring.

Me thinks Orangesto is an intelligence officer or some shit.