Politics - Robert Wright - Are All Fallen American Soldiers Heroes? - The Atlantic: "I guess you could argue that for someone to choose to go to war is inherently courageous and hence heroic. But not all Americans who die in wars chose to go. During the Vietnam War--when my family bought that Webster's dictionary (while living on an army base, actually)--many soldiers were drafted. And during the Iraq War, some who died had joined the National Guard--not the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marines--at a time when few people joining the National Guard imagined winding up in an actual war. Once the war started and they were ordered to Iraq, they were legally compelled to go."
'via Blog this'
Not sure I agree. There are plenty of people who dodged the draft, obtained military deferrals or found ways not to go to war. So just because you are drafted does not mean you are not still choosing to go to war in some sense. And people who join the military--even the national guard!--must contemplate that they may be called upon in time of war. Should they be treated less heroically because they made the decision to go fight in a war long before the conflict was underway?
I agree there are gradients of heroism. But I still think there is something kind of heroic about a cook in the green zone being killed by a stray rocket.
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