General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: If you won't say "hero" what will you say? [View all]Nuclear Unicorn
(19,497 posts)Even within their own peer group the soldiers I was privileged to know had what they referred to as, "shitbags" (they're always so -- colorful). But I think it's fair to say that any group has its detractors: teachers, doctors, firefighters ...Democrats. When we talk about teachers we speak of them as a group we admire as a whole. We don't make it a point to say, "Yeah, but some are just riding out the days until they retire," or to incessantly dwell on the gym teacher who continually gets overly familiar with the girl's basketball team. In fact, bringing up the detractors everyone admits exist is seen as a slap to those who are striving to do their job as best they can under trying circumstances.
OK, not every soldier carries a rifle on patrol but back at the FOB (I remember the sound of the acronym but not what it stands for) there are other soldiers fixing radios, filing pay corrections etc and I'm glad they're doing their jobs for the soldiers who are carrying rifles on patrol. I've filed pay corrections but never had to grab my helmet and run to a metal shipping container surrounded by sandbags because someone was trying to drop mortars on my office.