Not all soldiers are heroes

That seems like a pretty obvious statement, particularly when only about 5% of our troops have actually seen combat. Yet, almost every time the military is mentioned we speak of heroes and warriors. Clay Evans has some interesting comments on the issue.

I suspect that the word "heroes" is overused because these 20th century wars have affected so few of us. Only .5% of us actually serve in the military. Few of our leaders have served; it was 70% Congress in 1975 and is now 20%; George H.W. Bush was the last President to actually serve in the military.

I like these quotes from Evans:
"Most members of the military understand that the word is now used so frequently that it stands to lose its meaning altogether."
"If you call anyone who dons the uniform is a hero, then no one is a hero."