Should a Soldier be respected just for being a Soldier? If so, how much? If not, why? Serious replies only.

Question

I have been a soldier for 16 years. As soldiers, we put up with alot of junk during our daily jobs and that's not to mention the training that we had to endure when we became a soldier. I admit that there are Soldiers that are rude and mean people that do things that no one should do. You are going to have a criminal element in every society. Generally speaking, what do you think of soldiers and how they are treated?

Answer 1

I think all soldiers should be highly respected for what they do. They risk and take time out of there own lives to fight for our country.

Answer 2

It’s hard to quantify how much a soldier should or shouldn’t be respected because the term soldier means so many different things to everyone. I’ll give you some examples of what I mean:

Suppose you were an enlisted solder in charge of supplies or who worked at a desk during wartime, you never had to pick up a gun or defend your country in any way typically considered to be brave. You served your country from the security of you’re home turf. How much respect should this individual receive?

Or suppose you’re a drill sergeant who does nothing more than train and prepare new recruits for combat. They definitely deserve some respect, but should it be more or less than the solder that goes off to fight in combat. Should he get more respect if the solder comes back from combat uninjured because of the sergeant’s training? What if the new recruit dies in combat or comes back permanently injured?

In reality, not all soldiers went to war, and not all those who fought were necessarily soldiers either. I went back to Vietnam some years ago to look in the eyes of my fathers enemies and to hear their stories of what they believed the war was for and many weren’t even considered to be soldiers, but they came back home and received the respect they deserved because it was indeed what they deserved. Out there anyone who’s fought for their country is respected, this respect is a totem of achievement than can never be removed and must always be recognized.

This is something that I can strongly relate to because I’m a Native American and we’re also believers in these totems. A person who fought in a war or skirmish or military action should be respected for their bravery. Unfortunately in most of society it seems that you are only as good as the last thing you’ve done and nobody remembers (or really cares about) the great things you may have accomplished in the past.

Personally I think that a soldier should receive respect only on the merit of what s/he has done to warrant such action and the soldier should not exploit the privilege of receiving that respect by viewing themselves as being above their fellow man. That is the social contract of any display of respect and is something that all should learn to uphold as being true, for when we don’t we loose respect for ourselves.

Answer 3

I think soldiers should be respected for the sacrifices they are willing to make. They should be respected and honored to the point that they are not sent into harms way unless their are no other options. I do not believe this has been the case in most of the wars we have fought. I also believe that soldiers must be held accountable for their conduct. If you kill innocent, men, women and children being in a uniform should not exempt you from punishment. Soldiers who behave in such a manner deserve no respect.

Young men and women are lured into the military with a lot of promises of how the military will take care of them. Why then are soldiers paid so little? Why do many never get the education and training they were promised? Why are 200,000 veterans now part of our homeless population? Why when soldiers say they are sick from the chemicals of war does our government not believe them? We should pay our soldiers more than lip service. Our respect for soldiers should mean that our veterans are taken care of for the duration of their lives.

Answer 4

No, a soldier should not be respected simply for being a soldier. A person, any person, is due some amount of respect initially, no matter if they're a soldier or not. That being said, some military servicemen and women do not sign up to be a hero, but rather to get paid then or for college. There's nothing wrong with that either...but that deserves no more respect than the guy who goes to college for six years and has a master's degree in engineering. What DOES demand respect is a man or woman who have made sacrifices and have realized what they're true job is - that of not only a protector of our great nation but also a representative of it to other nations and to remind our citizens who we should strive to be. THOSE men and women demand our respect and well deserve it whether they've seen combat or not.

Answer 5

A soldier, if worthy of it, should be treated with the utmost respect.Most of you guys are very decent people. My son-in-law is an MP, just back from Iraq. And I have seen the way he and his fellow soldiers have lived. It is not the way any of us want to live. I have also seen the reality of what they get and how so much of what they are told at sign up, is a LIE. Anyone, soldier or civilian, should only be respected if they earn it. But until they show they are not worthy of it, then they should be held in honor. For it is they and the ones before them, who have protected this country and its freedoms, for SOOOO many years. If anyone does not agree, fine. Find a country where you will be more comfortable living without all that we have. It isn't perfect, and God knows we need HIS help. But it is so much better than most have it.

Answer 6

Respectful soldiers should be respected. They have a tough and mentally stressing job that asks alot of them, and they have no choice but to do it right if they want to stay alive.
It's also important to remember that the soldiers are not to blame for conflicts, but the politicians are. I have as much respect for a soldier that is fighting for my home country as for the soldier pitted against our own that is fighting for his country. The fear or hate created within societies about invaders or attackers is all part of the game for the politicians.. The more you feel patriotic, the more you will support the war, even though it wasn't always started for the right reasons.
Therefore, there is no reason to hate or despise soldiers, not even enemy soldiers.. They do what they have to do and it's a highly demanding and difficult task. They earn my respect as long as they're not like the bad ones we hear about on the news.. The ones that torture and abuse prisoners, rape women, pillage and kill for their own enjoyment.

As for how they are treated, I think on the battlefield they could be treated better but they're not because as you go up in the chain of command, you have bigger and more decentralized objectives which overshadow taking care of the troops. For example, a highly placed general will have as objective to take over a town to impress his own superior, instead of making sure of the troop's fatigue and mental health.In their own country however, I think they are treated with respect, as they should be.

Answer 7

Yes. Regardless of why they have enlisted, the signed with the knowledge that they are to defend our country against all enemies foreign & domestic. This could and does result in death and crippling injuries at times.
Soldiers, Sailors , Marines and Airmen are not dropped from another planet, they are a mocrocosim of society at large. The current outrage over allegations in Iraq, as a percentage of individuals serving there is absolutely minescule, compared to the crime rate per capita in several major cities in the US. It is safer to be an Iraqi around American soldiers than to live in Washington DC.

The British have a saying: "It;s Tommy this and Tommy that, and throw the blighter out...............but they call me Mr. Atkins when the bullets fly about". Tommy Atkins is their GI Joe, and the saying speaks to the fact that soldiers get treated like crap by people until their own *** is in a sling.

Answer 8

I think they should be treated with ALOT of respect, because they are the ones fighting for this country and not alot of people want to do that. Im not sure what exactly they go through on a regualr basis, but from what i've heard at school and everything its not too good. I think soldiers are treated with respect, but the veterans aren't treated too well...

Answer 9

i believe that if a prson has enough balls to go and sign their life away( just think about that, they signed their life away) and go through the training so they can protect their countries instead ofsitting back in there houses either not doing anything or not doing anything productive then they should get a higher respect than many of people... most soldiers probaly deserve more respect than most average citizens but the ones thatcommit crimes, atleast from my knowledge, are persecuted. so i believe to an extent most soldiers foriegn and odmestic should be given higher respect than one would normally give

Answer 10

soldiers dont get enough respect. making the descision to leave civilian life is very selfless and noble. putting your life on the line to fight for our country is a great honor.
on one hand the soldier makes a great choice to fight for the nation. that in itself is very noble. on the other hand, fighting for the country means that you support its causes, no matter what. after all, you are gambling with your life in order to further that cause. the people who dont respect soldiers enough are the people who are against the war and the american cause. soldiers, being the means of that cause, get alot of crap from the people. as far as soldiers themselves and criminal activity,, you cant blame them. soldiers come from such a diverse background. chances are that if these criminals were not soldiers, theyd be doing the same crimes. the army is more disiplined, so its obviously less likely. if these criminals were able to commit a horrible crime while int he army, under the watch of superiors and part of a unit of other peolpe, imagine what they could have dont had they been on their own as a civilian.
anyways, good luck out there, and thanks for fighting.

Answer 11

On an episode of the television show "COPS", the police were trying to to control a certain area and a man who protested that he did not want to be moved said to them, "I'm a sargeant in the U.S. Army." The police did not care, the man was instructed to move on. The authority of the police trumped the army Sargeant's authority.

Why does the authority of military personnel not extend to civil society ?

"Thomas Jefferson, one of our most important founding fathers, confirmed the purpose of the separation of powers between state and federal governments. He confirmed that the purpose of the federal government was to regulate commerce and interaction with foreign countries and that it never had the authority or jurisdiction to invade within states, either through legislation or through police powers."

I respect all soldiers, but I respect the police more !