Don’t Thank Killers for Their Service

Not only is murderer and liar Chris “American Sniper” Kyle universally lauded as a hero, not only are those who murdered Vietnamese from the air like John McCain termed heroes, and not only are American military personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan counted as heroes, because of the rampant military idolatry that is so prevalent in the United States—every veteran and active-duty member of the military is considered to be a hero.

It doesn’t matter where the troops go, why they go, how long they stay, whether they should go, or what they do when they are there—the troops are all heroes.

It doesn’t matter how many widows and orphans the troops make, how many bombs they drop, how many civilians they kill, how much infrastructure they destroy, how many bullets they fire, how many missiles they launch, or how many of “the enemy” they injure, maim, or kill—the troops are all heroes. fighting a foreign war. There is nothing heroic about fighting an offensive war. There is nothing heroic about making widows and orphans. There is nothing heroic about participating in evil. There is nothing heroic about obeying immoral orders. There is nothing heroic about fighting for our freedoms when you’re not. There is nothing heroic about fighting “over there” when there was no chance that you would have to fight “over here.” There is nothing heroic about bombing a country back to the stone age. There is nothing heroic about making war against a people that were no threat to us. There is nothing heroic about going to a foreign country and butchering people. There is nothing heroic about shooting people from attack helicopters with machine guns. There is nothing heroic about fighting communists half way around the world. There is nothing heroic about dying for a mistake. There is nothing heroic about your name appearing on the wall. There is nothing heroic about serving in the military during the Vietnam War. There is nothing heroic about fighting an unjust, unnecessary, unholy, senseless, and immoral war. There is nothing heroic about killing anything that moves.

The real heroes are the young men who, in spite of government orders, pressure, and threats, did not do any of these things. The real heroes are the young men who refused to go to Vietnam. The real heroes are the young men who fled to Canada instead of going to Vietnam. The real heroes are the young men who spent time in jail instead of Vietnam. The real heroes are the young men who burned their draft cards. The real heroes are the young men who protested against the war. The real heroes are the young men who suffered the consequences of refusing to go to Vietnam.

Draft resisters, draft opponents, draft avoiders, and draft dodgers are the real heroes.

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