They are Soldiers Not Heroes.

This man has a gun, for shootin' them peoples.

There is a War in the middle east if you haven't heard.

Iraq was full of giant missiles and Godzilla esc world destroying monsters according to the Pentagon and Tony Blair. Afghanistan had some Taliban bastards who treated women worse than Alec Baldwin. And all this mess was caused by America getting attacked by some dudes from Al Qaeda.

Thus an "Alliance of the Willing", which sounded no where near as good as the original name "The Fellowship of The Ring" had to march over to the deserts and kick some bums.

Apparently.

But lets not get into the whys and wherefores. There were and are some wars going on right now and due to said instabilities we sent our Armed Forces to promote peace by killing some people.

(Right, now your up to date. See world events really aren't that complicated to understand or describe!)

Yet if this was just any another article easily found anywhere from your local popsicle stand to a Hairy Biker forum, those Armed Forces would be described as "Heroes", "Our Boys" and "The Brave Few".

Why?

Why are soldiers, who chose their profession with free will and ample warning, trained to kill and told death is a highly probable part of their profession, called Heroes and praised constantly for the job they are paid to do?

When a soldier dies on the battlefield, the government is blamed, the army themselves are criticized for lacking the correct equipment, sometimes even the guys who killed the poor bugger get a portion of the blame, but never the soldier himself. 

Yes any death is terrible. Any human life taken in anyway is unforgivable and tragically unfair. However, that soldier CHOOSE to put himself in that position. From the moment he decided that joining the Army/Navy/Air-force was the right career and life choice for him, he KNEW that death was a likely possibility facing him. Just as when he was training every day, he knew that he was being groomed to kill other human beings. Just what part of that is "heroic?" 

There isn't conscription anymore, no one is forced to join the Military to protect our shores from a likely invasion. No matter what Fox News tells you. When young men in the 1940's left Britain and the US to fight the Axis, it was barely their choice and was, in fact, to save the world from certain, terrifying oppression.

Literally, from Day 1 every soldier in training knows what to expect when their feet touch down on foreign shores. They expect team mates to die, they expect IED's and suicide bombings. They are encouraged to shot to kill. I'm not saying its pleasant, or right, but again its down to choice, these men didn't have to sign up for this. 

Perhaps, the choice is out of their hands in a societal fashion, a large percentage of ground troops or "squaddies" come from impoverished backgrounds, the Army is seen as a way out of the poverty for them, with no other options to make the same levels of money with limited qualifications. Yet again however it isn't their only choice, many paths are open to them that don't involve killing, or being killed.

So back to my original statement, why call them Heroes? Are they selflessly putting their lives on the line to save the innocent? Are they joining the fight abroad to save our shores from a deadly invasion? No, they get paid to kill. They join the army to shoot people and earn a wage, oh and travel the world as well. 

When did the public begin praising those who are so blood thirsty? I have spoken to many who have joined the army, very few, (if any) have quoted their main aim in their career choice as "protecting the shores of my fine and fair country."

Don't get me wrong however, bravery is still evident, when a soldier jumps on an imminently exploding grenade, or when choosing not to blow up a jeep full of civilians when commanded to do so. But not every soldier killed in a war is a Hero. 

1 person a day dies on average in an industrial related accident. Yes that's 1 Per day.

Where are their televised funerals? Where is their charity for the widows? 

There isn't one.

They aren't aware that every day they are putting their life on the line for a living. They don't know the profession they are entering into is primarily the promotion of death. Yet their deaths get no media coverage, no crying widows in Wotton Basset around their hearse.

They also don't get Facebook groups as ridiculous as "Give footballers wages to the Soldiers." I could rant about this statement alone for hours and in hundreds of words, but I'll simply explain in one paragraph or less just how ridiculous, un-founded and utterly retarded a statement like that truly is.

*Rant begin*

The average football career spans 15 years maximum, of those footballers 100 or so will have 7-10 years on wages of around £60,000 a week, even less will have over that. Football is a small profession made up of a minute amount of the worldwide population. They play in a highly paid, massively viewed, niche world. You have to be the very best in your field to get the best pay in any job. The best footballers are no different. The average soldier has limited to no qualifications, the skills they are trained in are not fields which are viewed massively by the media and you do not have to have extraordinary physical gifts to be in the Army. You choose to join and you are paid accordingly for your skill set. For these reasons and many more Soldiers do NOT deserve the wages of footballers. *Rant over*

Heroes can in certain situations be soldiers, but my god, please don't claim that every man killed in Iraq or wherever is a hero befitting a protest, government funded funeral and full recognition in parliament for one simple reason. Choice. 

I know this is a touchy subject, many know people who have died in wars, or come back scarred from them both mentally and physically. I in no way aim to disrespect or insult their death or life, but the word hero needs to be used more sparingly and accurately. Or soon enough it wont mean anything at all.

Every soldier chose to be just that, a soldier. 

-Chovey