After over a decade of war, President Obama sent 200 troops to Iraq this summer to act as aids to the Iraqi government in their ongoing battle with ISIS. The President’s actions, of course, completely contradict the vow he made to the American people to end the War in Iraq back in 2008, but that’s no matter now. The President is dead set on spending more taxpayer dollars and sending more American troops into an endless battle that, so far, has proven fruitless.
Yet, the futility of the mission does not preclude individual actors from acting bravely. Since taking office, President Obama has rewarded eleven Medals of Honor – twice as much as his predecessor. In the media, the American public is subject to a barrage of tales and images describing the glory of war and heroism under fire. America’s "brave men and women in uniform" are constantly heralded in ads, parades, sporting events, and on yellow ribbon bumper stickers urging fellow Americans to "Support The Troops." This hero worship has even gone so far as to use wounded soldiers as a political ploy, as President Obama did in showcasing army ranger Cory Remsburg during his State of the Union address this year. Sgt. First Class Remsburg was hit with an improvised explosive device on his tenth deployment into battle. Nobody doubts that Sgt. Remsburg is a real American hero, but should he had to become one in the first place?
There is an untold secret in our nation’s proud military. Stated bluntly, the majority of America’s armed forces are not heroes and don’t want that title themselves. In fact, I spoke with three military men and heard this theme emerge repeatedly. When asked, in his opinion, what the biggest misconception civilians have about the military, one of the three – Senior Airman Micheal Worton – claimed that being in the military is more like being a "guy in movie ‘Office Space,’ but you’re wearing camo instead of a suit." Many Americans fail to realize that the majority of service member work normal jobs like administration, accounting, and engineering without seeing combat.
When asked the same question, Marine Corps Sergeant Nicholas Mejia responded that the greatest misconception is "the idea that we are some how fighting a just war." This inflated sense of moral purpose is psychologically dangerous given how young many soldiers are, according to Sgt. Mejia. "Blind hero worship gives people a false sense of pride. These are still kids. It’s setting them up for failure and breakdown."
Sadly, this psychological damage can have spillover effects into civilian life after wartime. In a 2012 report on veteran employment, the Center for a New American Security found that half of surveyed hiring managers are afraid to employ veterans due to fear of post traumatic stress disorder. Service members are told throughout their careers that they are leaders and are getting experience in the military that gives them a comparative advantage to their civilian peers. Yet, when they return home, they struggle harder than their civilian peers to find jobs, creating a lot of confusion, anger, and resentment amongst veterans.
If the President truly wanted to honor and respect the troops, he would stop sending them off to war. This sentiment was echoed by Ret. Army sergeant Peter Neiger, a paratrooper who saw combat in Iraq and Afghanistan from 2001-2005, stating, "There may have been a war in the past that was worth fighting in, but neither Afghanistan nor Iraq are worth it at this point." Even higher-ups like Ret. Army Colonel David Sutherland have come out publicly against the US re-engaging in Iraq.
While it’s hard and painful to see the suffering in that area of the world, sending more American men and women into the chaos will not help. The US has already spent billions of dollar and lost many loved ones. We need it to end.
Of course, there are still some service members who honestly do deserve recognition. However, they are a minority of individuals in special forces, elite infantry, or find themselves in challenging combat – men like Sgt. First Class Remsburg. While civilians shouldn’t stop praising these individuals, we shouldn’t detract from their heroism by putting all service members on an unnaturally high pedestal."If you blindly worship someone because of their job, they are going to fail you and you are put into the position of defending terrible action." Sgt. Neiger observed. "It also puts stress on the soldier to be perfect, which is impossible. Soldiers will fail."
America’s endless war is one of the greatest tragedies that continues to happen. The country shouldn’t need to debate whether or not military personnel should be called war heroes because we shouldn’t have to be sending them off to wars in the first place. Sgt. First Class Remsburg shouldn’t have been sent out on a single deployment, let alone ten. Yet, even the slighted questioning of the justification of war is often met with hostility. But, as Sgt. Neiger observed, "criticism of war, or even specific military action, isn’t necessarily an attack on [soldiers]." We can support our troops by keeping them home. The two goals are not mutually exclusive.
Gannon LeBlanc is a Young Voices Advocate studying economics at Eastern Michigan University.