Why are we violently forced to respect veterans?

This is not trolling, this is an honest question I'd like some opinions on. I ask that you stay calm so that your thoughts can come out clearly.





I personally do not think just because people went to war that they get anything more from me than any other person. They are just people doing a job (which most of them will tell you themselves). Do we praise the public works for giving us clean streets or the grocery store manager for getting us food? My mentor was a photo recon officer in ww2, my uncle flew rescues in Vietnam, I have many friends who have served or are serving in the current wars. I think that is what gives me the insight that allows me this opinion.





I don't see the romanticized warrior. I see Uncle Jim, the retired Fed-Ex pilot who brought land near Chicago to fish. I see Gonzie, the bully in the 5th grade who once got so stoned he threw up in a tree house. Just the same I don't see bums. I see Fred, the guy who got radiation poisoning on a nuc sub and had problems with his hands and mind. ,,,





So, am I wrong, am I lacking one freedom in America; that freedom being personal safety after stating an opinion that can't be stolen from TV? Why am I forced to respect veterans, hate bums, love McDonald's and think "those towel-heads/gooks/krauts" must all be killed?|||Sidebar: I must admit I have _never ever_ seen any proof of this common and usually right-wing assertion that veterans of any war were ever publicly spat on. No film or TV footage from the time, no mention of it in _any_ mainstream news reportage of the time.





And this is an anomaly in my humble opinion, because you'd THINK the same class of journalists who covered the violence, warfare, orders gone wrong and widespread butchery going on in Vietnam would also cover this behavior as well. These were many of the same people covering the civil rights movement, church bombings, lynchings and all--and suddenly spitting is beyond the pale and shall never be covered or _mentioned_ until decades later?





This is on a par with repeated accusations against Occupy protestors that they're "filthy" and "publicly urinate and defecate" in the parks where they set up. I'm really not taking these accusations at face value until there's actual audio and visual proof of the behavior recorded _in the moment at the source_.





Answering the Question: The truth of it is, being in the military is the most awful and terrible job there is. Men and women surrender their lives to this institution so they can be "trained"--browbeaten and coerced--into killing on demand, among lots of other things.





It is an awful and terrible thing because it has to be as awful and terrible as warfare itself. No question. So I really do _think_ this is a large piece of the issue--people confuse (sometimes deliberately, sometimes not) having respect for the _sacrifice_ these people make--surrendering their lives and in many cases _laying down their lives and DYING_--with respecting the current warfare and/or mission. Some people play dirty pool on this. They insist that "you have to" respect the current mess in Iraq or Afghanistan to respect the shared sacrifice of the men and women present. That's just not true because the _mission_ is absolutely and implicitly NOT their decision.





And really, insisting it's "true" amounts to little more than an argument to force: That you won't be free to disagree unless you BOW YOUR HEAD like a good little ape to your Masters. It is the triumph of fear tactics over reason and honor both. It is what justifies the hateful Police Brutality that maimed Scott Olsen in Oakland, CA at the hands of a police explosive NOT meant to be discharged at point-blank range ON people directly. Look it up.





Point is: There's nothing wrong and a LOT right with respecting the Soldier--the human being who surrendered his free will and executive function to an institution for all the right reasons (namely the honorable defense of his nation). I see no disrespect of the human being in this Question.





And there's nothing wrong and a LOT right with disagreeing with the mission. Iraq was always wrong from the get-go. Afghanistan was wrong when Bush/Cheney LET Afghan warlords remove Bin Laden to the Pakistanis that harbored him since.





In short? We're not wrong, but we may be on the verge of lacking a country, given the way SOME people get their heads in a twist over every last thing.|||Respect is a good thing.|||Okay secret_asian_man, I am going to accept you claim that you are not a certain TROLL who keeps posting similar provocative "questions" meant to bash (mostly Vietnam) veterans.





We live in a free country. This country is free because the men you do not think have earned your respect put aside a time in their lives, and put those lives on the line, to ensure no one took your freedoms away. One of those freedoms is your right to hold and express any opinion you take it into your head to hold and/or express. Example? Your current post. Nobody "forces" you to "respect" anyone else.





It was established in the early 80s that it was not really socially acceptable to spit on vets. This huge backlash caused a lot of guilty feelings on the part of people who had not spoken out about this practice earlier, and a defensive posture by the Nimrods who had been spiting on vets. Because of the bad behavior of a small number of (mostly) young people in the late 60s and throughout the 70s there is something of an overreaction to individuals who do not think they need to respect vets.





Frankly, as long as you do not spit on vets, or subject them to public humiliation and derision, you are free to THINK whatever you want. The reason I am a vet was to insure you had that freedom.





So...enjoy....





Oh ya...your welcome....