Zerohero wrote:If a Construction Worker died today, his body would not be sent home in the prettiest bag, and the nicest car. And he would not be glorified for his work. I think soldiers are to glorified in our country sometimes.
If anything i think soldiers are seen as hollywood, if thats what you mean by glorified then i will agree with you, if thats not what you mean i couldnt disagree with you more.
Ive had people treat me pretty ****ty because I wear this uniform, people i dont even know on the street saying bad stuff to me. My life has been a rollarcoaster these past few months with getting ready for deployment then, having the mission canceled, then having most of my friends leave to go with an infantry unit that i cant go with because im female. Im going to have to say goodbye to the majority of my friends in a couple weeks.. say goodbye so they can go over there and get shot at, live in less then ideal conditions and be hated by the locals and maybe come back in one of those coffins.
I realize that you have family in the military.. Im sorry but that does not give you an acurate picture of what its truley like to be a soldier or a marine or anything else. When you are sitting in a muddy hole, shivering, while rain pours down on you.. for hours.. while you are exhausted and hungry and miserable... thats when you can say that you know what its like. When you have given up all your comforts, everything you love and put it on hold when you are told to, when you can be sent away halfway across the world for a year or more, whenever they want, when you cant make a life at home because everything is seen as temporary, then you will know what its like. Otherwise, regardless of who your family is, your just another civilian.
going back to the glorified part... a soldier is willing to give everything, even their life for this country. Accidents happen in every job, but getting maliciously hunted by your enemy is something thats pretty unique to military. As military one of the benefits that I get for willing to live and die for my country is that i get to have a military funeral. Think about that for a second. Im willing to be miserable and possibly cut my life short so that when im dead.. "rotting" as you so nicely put it, that they will show me the recognition for my sacrafice and throw a flag over my coffin and treat it with respect worthy of someone who died prematurely simply for fighting for their country. Glorified?
Personally i think the military, police, EMTs, and firefighters should be treated like the NBA is. All these occupations require you to put the lives of other people above your own when its called for, yet if you look into it, all of these jobs get crap for wages. We obviously arent doing it for the money. And unlike the other occupations i listed, the military doesnt have a Union. Theres nothing that says that we cant go all night with no sleep, nothing that says that we deserve coffee breaks or weekends off and Im not saying there should be. If we fight the good fight and dont get the heavy paycheck that we deserve, is it really that awful to show common respect even admiration for soldiers?
Glorification? Maybe you need to step into a pair of combat boots for a few days.. i think your opinion would change pretty fast.
