RE: Veteran's day shout out to those who sacrificed to protect and defend.
November 12, 2014 at 10:09 pm
Yeah, I agree it is tragic the amount of harm war does to people. They put themselves in harms way in more than a physical sense. They have no choice but to accept chain of command and to act as a unit. If that unit is put in a situation which allows harm to befall civilians it will be soldiers like this one who have to bear its burden.
I certainly don't put soldiers on a pedestal. They're not better or worse people than anyone else. All I'm saying is that the impulse to serve, protect and defend is nobel. Sadly once you take that on, military rules and training may put you in plenty of positions where personal honor must take a backseat to following orders. Whatever moral horrors are committed belong to all of us by virtue of the system we allow to perpetuate itself.
I certainly don't put soldiers on a pedestal. They're not better or worse people than anyone else. All I'm saying is that the impulse to serve, protect and defend is nobel. Sadly once you take that on, military rules and training may put you in plenty of positions where personal honor must take a backseat to following orders. Whatever moral horrors are committed belong to all of us by virtue of the system we allow to perpetuate itself.
