Are Soldiers Heros or Killers?

[Admiral]

Unless I do something worthy of certain accolades(Silver Star, Service Cross or Medal of Honor for three example), I will never call myself a hero. This is something I chose to do for a number of reasons and none include the opportunity to bail out a fire-team or something. I chose to be a Commo officer(Combat Support) because this is where my particular skill-set would be best used- that and the life of an Infantry officer isn't really all that appealing to me. Should I be needed as a Patrol Leader like one (in a Combat Arms branch) such as Infantry or MP then I would certainly do it but it is not my first choice. Simply put, nobody hopes to earn a Medal of Honor.

The term hero is thrown about far too loosely. Are we killers? We do kill, yes. Are we cold-blooded killers? Most of us I can certainly say no. I think the question should be rephrased.

"The objective of war is not to die for your country but to make the other poor bastard die for his." Somebody has to die, who is it going to be them or you?



Edit:

I can understand people saying the Occupation of Afghanistan should be ended because of the difficulty in understanding what the mission is, but cmon... Iraq? Have you already forgotten what it used to be? Do you not know that we are generally we liked there for toppling that Dictatorship and providing aid? Do you know how rough it is on soldiers in Afghanistan? They have ludicrous rules they have to follow which not only hampers the mission but puts them in more danger than need-be.

Edit 2:

Some of you question the "do as a I say because I said so rule." If soldiers asked why every time they were to execute an order the armed forces would be in a bad place. There are such things as unconstitutional orders- you are REQUIRED to disobey those. In general however, asking why is not your place. Most of the time you will have a good idea what your little piece of the war puzzle is supporting anyways.