Postal Letter - Are our troops in Iraq "heros" or are they just doing their job?

Are our troops in Iraq "heros" or are they just doing their job?

If so, what makes them a hero? Is the word "hero" losing meaning? Last night at a speach at UF, Dr. Kavorkian said he doesn't like when we call our troops heros because they are doing their job just as much as a garbage man or a mailman does his job. We don't call them heros.

Public Comments

Just doing their jobs, President Bush is the War Hero.
WOW.. I just lost respect for Dr. Kevorkian.. and I kind of liked him What makes them heroes.. just as Police, Firefighters, etc.. is that they volunteer for a job where they are putting their lives on the line to keep US safe... If someone did not volunteer to do these kinds of jobs what kind of Country would we live in... Anybody who volunteers to do a job where they know they can die to keep Citizens safe is a HERO in my eyes and most Americans
does the mailman get shot at everyday at his job? does the garbage man get blown up by an IED every day? our troops are fighting to keep Iraq from becoming an AL-Qaida stronghold for them to launch attacks on american soil, and you dare to question there sacrafices? HOW DARE YOU? AND LEARN HOW TO SPELL "HEROES"!
i think there hero's for in-listing to defend there country. there are lots of people that don't. they just set home waiting for the checks they don't earn.
They are doing the job they "signed" their lives away for. No one sees them as doing anything special anymore ... least of all this country who lets the ones left on the "home-front" betray and take everything they have worked for ...... The courts should uphold the "Soldiers and Sailors Act" and stop giving home-wrecking people the freedom to do as they please while our men and women are on foreign soil. I say if they are away then you can't get anything done! Let them be home to defend themselves ......... But yes they are doing their jobs ........ they signed up for that. It is a heroic act and selfless of them to live, love and even die for the people back on "home" soil.
The doc has a point, and I agree when it comes to ordinary jobs like police and especially firemen. Being in the military takes a heck of a lot more bravery and although they can expect to be killed at any moment, its not just part of the job per-se. A soldier once they make that choice cannot just back out of the deal. A police officer or fireman can walk away and take up a different profession at will. So the troops are both doing their jobs, and they are also Heroes.
just doing the job ordered by bush and cheney,which means looting and exploiting a foreign country where they have no business to be.
THEY ARE HEROES!!!!!!! AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT!!!!! I'd love to see you serve and or do a single selfless act. This is exactly why I advocate mandatory national service for ALL U.S. Citizens. You benefit from this countries freedoms you should be REQUIRED by law to help protect it.
The men and women over seas are and will always be heros in my mind, they're serving our country for us, that we dont have to whether or not Bush sent them over there..If i was to go overseas i would feel like a hero becuase i would be keeping idoits from hurting my family;P
Its a heroic act for any service member because he/she understands that their life can be snatched from them in a second or they might be maimed..Dr K has the right to speak his rhetoric because of the heroes in our military.
Yup, just doing our job. A job that less than 10 percent of this country is willing to do. Willing to protect all this country holds dear, just like policemen/firefighters. Trust me, we don't really care what people call us as soldiers, but I don't see millions of people putting on the same uniform as me, my fellow military men and women, police and firefighters. How can you compare a mailman to a policeman, firefighter or soldier. A necessary and valued job, but i don't see mailmen running into burning buildings, arresting drug dealers or serving in a combat zone, all for you, with little pay and insane hours.
Are you putting your life on the line for your country? Kevorkian is an idiot. Mailmen and garbage men aren't putting their lives on the line in their jobs. The soldiers are HERO'S!!! At least they are mine. I lost my brother in Iraq. You questioning their sacrifice is so wrong. People need to remember that with out those men and women we would not have the country we have. It would be another Islamic state. If the US troops have anything to do with it that will never happen. Remember their sacrifices! Not just the lives lost. Remember they weren't home for Christmas, maybe they missed the birth of their baby, how about those whose mothers or fathers are sick or dieing and they can't attend to them in those moments, or those who have lost loved ones and missed the funeral because they were protecting you. A soldiers life is sacrifice and as such makes them HERO'S.
Some are Heroes some are just doing there job. If a fireman runs into a burning orphanage risking his life to save some children is he a Hero or is he just doing his job? Would it be more heroic if he were some guy off the street? If a soldiers checks a car that looks suspicious and it blows up before it gets to a crowded market...yes If some guy sits behind a desk in a military uniform...no.
I suppose that depends on who you ask. If you ask a Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine, they will tell you that they are simply doing their job. What they don't realize is that they are a Hero, to the little boy down the street, to their sister, to their Mom, who smiles her pride thru her tears, to their Dad, who has a hard time telling them how proud they are. Each person who wears a uniform is a Hero to someone, in most cases, to many 'someones,' and not just here. They are a Hero to someone in the battle scarred country as well. As such, they deserve the utmost respect. (dr kavorkian doesn't even count)
This country has lost focus on what a "hero" is. We label athletes that dope up to get bigger, faster, and stronger as "heros". I call them poor role models. If you ask the troops themselves most will say that they are just doing their jobs. Even the actual heros will tell you that. I will tell you that is takes a certain person to put their life on the line for another person, hero or not, that certainly counts for something.
Doing their jobs like a trashman? Hmm... trash men GET to come home to their wives and children. They (trashmen, electricians, bankers) do not have to abandon them in lieu of commitment to service for our country for a yr or two overseas. They (soldiers) are the reasons, we feel somewhat safe to live here. They (ordinary jobs) do not risk their lives everyday, to keep our civilians safe. They (soldiers) are heros. Have you thought about going to Iraq? Have you put your life in line for a job? How frightened would you be if we had another country storm over here and stomp through your yard, claiming your property and possibly killing you because you are "american." That is one reason our armed forces are heroes. The war in Iraq, may be unjustified because of Bush, but the true meaning of their jobs are to protect us and our country.
The troops will tell you they don't feel like a hero, hero's are what others call someone, not what one calls himself
well, on the one hand everyone in uniform is a "hero" but, on the other hand how do you differentiate between a uniformed clerk handing over stacks of targeting specs and a marine who throws himself onto a live grenade to protect other marines????? soldiers joined knowing the pay and the rules. they are just doing their jobs. heroes are just that, a person that goes far above and beyond the call of the paycheck, farther even than guarding the white house. the real uniformed heroes are the u.s. postal service, don't forget it.