I said this last year and it deserves repeating. We didn't fight for your freedom.

[Aristus]

52. Rec +1.

I didn't fight for America's 'freedom', either. I suppose I fought for Kuwait's freedom, whatever that means. (An ultra-conservative Muslim monarchy that generated wealth through fossil fuels. Not my idea of something worth fighting for.)

The stories of veterans being spat upon during the Vietnam War have proliferated so pervasively through our society that the mere mention of someone's time in the Armed Forces elicits a plethora of no doubt sincere, but still obligatory effusions of "Thank you for your service!"

I didn't join the Army in order to fight for anyone's freedom. I joined because I liked tanks, I wanted to travel the world on someone else's dime, and I wanted money for college.

I didn't serve in the Gulf in 1991 to 'defend freedom' or what-the-fuck-ever. I did it because I was following my orders to do so. And as history bears out, 'following orders' isn't necessarily a heroic thing to do.

And BTW, I and many others like me who didn't charge machine-gun nests, or fall on a grenade to save our buddies, constantly get referred to as 'heroes'. As Hollywood movies have taught us to, we smile and self-effacingly say: "I ain't no hero. The heroes are the one that didn't make it back home."

Then I go puke somewhere.

I am not a hero. Know why? Because I didn't do anything heroic! I was just following orders. (See above).

So yes, let's remember our fallen. Let's remember our veterans. But can we please, for fuck's sake, stop making more of them?!?