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I respectfully disagree. They devalue themselves.

I can’t imagine how Soldiers A, B, and C would lose honor and respect because Citizen D lied about his service. It’s not like there is a finite amount of honor and respect that is shared equally among all those that claim service.

Question: Do soldiers who return and commit murders or rapes devalue ALL soldiers?

This almost seems like collective punishment.

"I can’t imagine how Soldiers A, B, and C would lose honor and respect because Citizen D lied about his service. It’s not like there is a finite amount of honor and respect that is shared equally among all those that claim service."

Sure there's no "finite" amount of honor, just like there's no finite amount of wealth...but if you're the only person with a $50 bill that you truly earned, you're going to be victimized if 20 people show up in your town with counterfeit $100 bills.

"Question: Do soldiers who return and commit murders or rapes devalue ALL soldiers?"

Of course not. It does however, directly impact the perception of them by many people who are not familiar with military, and especially given the mass media culture in which we live, it negatively effects the reputations and images of the innocent service members.