As I left a grocery store recently, I noticed a sign taped to the glass entrance door. It was an older newspaper, with faded ink and curling, yellow paper. On it was a ribbon, half yellow and half American flag. On the ribbon was the phrase, “Support America’s Heroes.” I stopped to think. I’ve seen and heard the phrase “Support our troops” but this was new to me. “Support our heroes"? I felt the need to bring attention to this.

Should we do our soldiers, Marines, sailors, airmen, and our country a small favor by thanking them for their service and letting them know we appreciate them? Yes. Should we call them a hero? Only if they deserve it. A snappy uniform -- or even dented body armor -- is not a magical shortcut to hero status.

A hero is someone who behaves selflessly, usually at considerable personal risk and sacrifice, to comfort or empower others and to make the world a better place. Heroes, of course, come in all sizes, shapes, ages and colors, most of them looking nothing like John Wayne or John Rambo or GI Joe (or Jane). It is at best a risky business to define someone as “extraordinary” simply by virtue of wearing a uniform. In fact, it is potentially dangerous as it makes it too easy to slip into the militaristic attitude that what soldiers do goes beyond “necessary evil" -- beyond even honorable to admirable, to something to celebrate -- an attitude that makes it all too easy to promote additional enlistments, additional weapons, and even additional wars.

Heroes are rare. That is the reason we celebrate them. They are the very best of us. That is the reason they are not all of us. By making our military a league of heroes, we ensure that the brutalizing aspects and effects of war will be played down. In celebrating isolated heroic feats, we often forget that war is guaranteed to degrade humanity as well. Even worse, seeing the military as universally heroic can serve to prolong wars.

Many argue that no one has a choice of what country they’re born in, so soldiers aren’t fighting for anyone but some politician. This argument, when poised to a dedicated soldier, has a very personal effect to the line of work they have chosen. This basically indicates that they have no control over their lives and that the state effectively owns them. Further, the argument is that they enforce the foreign policy of the currently elected government for the sake of “freedom” and “spreading democracy,” which only occasionally, and not for the last 70 years, has something to do with our freedom.

I don’t deny this argument, nor do I promote it, but I want to be clear: Soldiers do not fight for our freedoms. We are all born with natural freedoms. These rights are inalienable. These rights can only be upheld by putting them into practice. The idea that we are somehow given our natural rights by armed men is savagely invoked by their representative power-hungry governments who, au contraire, are willing to remove those freedoms in replacement with the illusion that they are owed undying gratitude for bestowing these freedoms upon billions of people and using this ideology to commit acts of heinous crimes in "our name." Furthermore, the ruling ideology will often justify this ruthless exploitation with appeals to some fundamental and all total human nature -- one of the societal myths which hold it in place.

Let me be very clear on my stance. We do need soldiers for the country’s defense, which is very different than offense. I believe that soldiers should be defending our countries geographical boarders, not occupying foreign lands and spending our country into bankruptcy. They joined to defend their country. What is wrong is seeing people view soldiers as dupes who are wasting their lives. Soldiers didn’t get duped. Soldiers are necessary and I respect their place in society. I do believe that sadly they are being used by the politicians for other means, which is the sickening part.

I’m not going to get into a speculative argument about where the country would be if there wasn’t an army, since nobody can really say what would’ve happened. I suspect we’d be better off; others seem to think we’d be worse. My argument is that starting from the time of the America Revolution, if there was no revolt, democracy would’ve been likely to happen anyway. Ideas don’t need guns behind them to make them happen. MLK and Ghandi showed us that. You can make the Hitler argument, but how long do you think a crazy person like that would’ve been in power without a palpable enemy to fight? It’s very hard to stir a whole nation to slaughter innocent people for any length of time. Dictators thrive on pointing the finger at somebody armed and saying “We’re fighting them, and our cause is just.”

I fail to see how soldiers, by and large, are heroes. There may be heroes among them. War does foster moments for heroics. But in reality, soldiers are humans in a terrifying situation. Being a soldier does not automatically make you a hero. Being a veteran doesn’t automatically make you a hero. Being injured in a war doesn’t make you a hero. Killing someone in battle doesn’t make you a hero. Soldiers as a whole don’t heroically save people from terrorists. They don’t courageously charge into a hail of bullets to protect a scared child. Individuals do; soldiers as a whole do not. Saying that EVERY soldier is a hero or should be considered as such is foolish and diminishes real heroes.

I do support the troops, but in a much different way than most are conditioned to believe. Indeed, my family has military ties. I also have many friends who are currently deployed and I’m sure I know a handful of folks that do too. But let me be clear:  Supporting the troops isn’t as simple as putting a magnetic yellow ribbon (made in China, of course) on the back of your gas-guzzling vehicle and thinking, “Presto, troops supported!” It’s my belief that a far more patriotic act is raising one’s voice to end the war, which would bring troops home and out of the line of fire.

I see no wrong in being patriotic by loving and respecting our country and the people in it. I also see no wrong  in thinking it is equally patriotic to analyze and question my government and demand better from our elected officials.

Do I think that the U.S. has a long way to go before it’s a “perfect” country? Yes.

Am I willing to vote and advocate social change to promote what I believe this country stands for? Yes.

Am I willing to let young men and women die for illegitimate wars? No.

Do I believe every soldier is a hero? No.

I do believe that there are heroes, but the title does not come with a uniform and a job.