Thread: 'Hero' culture. Is it going too far?

'Help for Heroes' is doing a tremendous job in supporting wounded personnel and raising money and public awareness through major events. Most notably with the recent 'Hero' pop song.
But...
The term 'Hero' has become commonplace whenever personnel on operations are mentioned. It's banded about as if we're all Heroes. A label I object to. My definition of a Hero is someone who has performed a single heroic act, such as a winner of a gallantry medal, not someone doing their duty.

It's something we've inherited from the Americans, through osmosis I suspect, whereby the public are being encouraged to regard their service personnel as 'heroes' and honour them accordingly. It's almost Soviet in it's mentality. It's only come about since we went into Helmand in 2006 and started taking heavy casualties. I don't recall us being called it during the war in Iraq...

A British soldier is highly respected and regarded worldwide, especially by their own population without the need for this tacky accolade.

Whatever happened to being modest and British?

Fair one but the footy mongs and their pr scum started it!

Agreed but it's better than the public not giving 2 sh1ts about HM forces..
But hey Im a civvy what do I know

I never served anywhere dangerous, although I did go for a night-out in West Hartlepool one saturday. No, joking apart, there is a danger of heroism being cheapened by the gutter press.

I have nothing but admiration for all the lasses and lads doing their duty in far flung places, but thats what they are doing, their duty, I don't suppose there's one of them that thinks of themselves as a hero. God bless them all.

Well, if we were never filled with propaganda crap like 'hero'..ect, then we'd soon realise that tours are a waste of 6 months in your life.

I, as well as pretty much every other service member I know, hates being called a hero. Even those who have done extremely heroic things will tell you they were just doing their job. American service members, for the most part, would like to do our duty and just be treated normal. However, I would much rather have my comrades going around being called hero’s, rather than having the public stop supporting them. Even worse, to have them treated the way several Vietnam era soldiers were treated.

I think the British military is very honorable, and your soldiers deserve recognition. Civilians don’t have many other ways to express their gratitude, and therefore call you a hero; as they undoubtedly see it. Maybe you don’t see yourself as a hero, but either way someone else probably does. You may not need the recognition, but the civilian probably feels differently.

So I say, accept it as it is. A gesture of gratitude for your service.

Originally Posted by Nightrained

Well, if we were never filled with propaganda crap like 'hero'..ect, then we'd soon realise that tours are a waste of 6 months in your life.

Well hand your bedding in then you whinging cnut.

Originally Posted by U.S.Paratrooper

I, as well as pretty much every other service member I know, hates being called a hero. Even those who have done extremely heroic things will tell you they were just doing their job. American service members, for the most part, would like to do our duty and just be treated normal. However, I would much rather have my comrades going around being called hero’s, rather than having the public stop supporting them. Even worse, to have them treated the way several Vietnam era soldiers were treated.

I think the British military is very honorable, and your soldiers deserve recognition. Civilians don’t have many other ways to express their gratitude, and therefore call you a hero; as they undoubtedly see it. Maybe you don’t see yourself as a hero, but either way someone else probably does. You may not need the recognition, but the civilian probably feels differently.

So I say, accept it as it is. A gesture of gratitude for your service.

Well said.

Personally, I haven't really heard of soldiers being called 'Heroes' much at all. Then again, I'm a dedicated, bourgeois broadsheet reader, and they sort of favour impartial language.

No fecker called us heroes when 9 of us took on 20, 000 rioters in West Belfast in August 83, oh no we were oppressors! The fact that they wanted to torch an RUC station and murder Police and troops?