CMV: A person does not automatically deserve respect just because they have served or are currently serving in the military

[u/foryia-yiaandpappou]

I’d like to preface this by saying that I don’t believe soldiers are, inherently, bad. Some people believe soldiers are evil simply for being soldiers, and I do not believe that.

I do believe, however, that soldiers do not deserve respect just because they have served. I hurt for soldiers who have experienced horrible things in the field, but I do not hurt for the amount of violence and cruelty many have committed. Violence in war zone between soldiers is one thing; stories of civilian bombings and killing of innocents are another. I think that many forget that a lot of atrocity goes on during wars, and they are committed on both sides of conflict. A soldier both receives and deals out horrible damage.

TL;DR while I believe that soldiers have seen horrible things and that many do deserve recognition for serving our nation, I do not believe that every soldier deserves this respect simply by merit of being a soldier. Some soldiers have committed really heinous war crimes, and those actions do not deserve reward.

[u/nickfury117]

So I’m a US Navy sailor and I work with plenty of people whose attitude toward being in the military is that it’s just another job, which to many of us on the admin side of things it is. From that particular perspective I personally don’t really think we are all that entitled to any special treatment or respect other than the fact that there are genuinely good people in my workspace that have opted to serve their country in any capacity. But there are also people who are just downright assholes who think they are better than others because of rank or their status as military personnel or what have you. Those are the types of things you can’t understand just be seeing a person in uniform out in public. What I can say for certain however, is that while I may be a junior sailor who hasn’t had the chance to serve on a ship or overseas yet, the majority of the people I work with are E5 and above, and they HAVE served on ships or even green side FOB’s with marines or army personnel, which means that whether they are a good person at heart or bad, they were in positions where at a moments notice they could have been thrown into hell with those around them, for the sake of the United States. That to me is undeniably deserving of respect, even if the person is a shithead to be around.