They are still more if a hero and have more courage than you will ever have douchebag (author)
He misses the days when Vietnam veterans were spit upon & called war criminals & babykillers.
Well, he is right in the basic premise that simply serving in the military does not make one a hero. I went straight into the Navy from high school but even though I did receive an honorable discharge I was no hero and would never want to be called one. I sometimes tell people that I was a draft dodger, having joined the Navy to get that out of the way and not be drafted into the Army. On the other hand those who DID serve in combat and especially those who were injured and or disabled deserve any benefits they get and more besides. Of course not all injuries or deaths result from combat, I came within a whisker of becoming a casualty more than once by just being an electronics technician who never went near a combat zone but I still say that the Navy did far more for me than I ever did for the Navy. I only wish I had had sense enough to realize it and appreciate it at the time.