Soldiers: Do They Need More Appreciation or Not?

Soldiers, upon returning from the Vietnam War were spit upon and cursed at when they exited the planes. The soldiers did not feel appreciated and felt ashamed of their service to their country. Is this how soldiers who have risked their lives for us should be treated? Shouldn’t Americans be grateful to these brave men and women who put it all on the line?

 In The Daily Universe, Brigham Young University’s newspaper, a columnist discussed the appreciation of the American people to their soldiers. The author focused on the fact that Americans rarely say thank you to soldiers because they feel ‘awkward’ or how American’s pray for the soldiers while they are at war, but forget about them when they return home. Citizens do not realize that these warriors that return home are still affected by what they saw and the actions they were required to perform.  “No Unwounded Soldier" is an affective argument to convince the American people to revere soldiers because of the use of imagery and diction to make Americans feel guilt and want to change their ungrateful ways.

The Daily Universe writer uses imagery to help Americans truly understand what soldiers went through and are continuing to encounter on a daily basis. The writer states, “Every night many of the veterans awake from nightmares and terrors. Some of these dreams relive memories from decades back; some of them relive experiences from the month before.” The real life examples make one ache with the soldiers and feel sympathy towards them. Many people do not realize the baggage that soldiers take with them after their service. Citizens think that the service men and women can leave everything they had to encounter behind them wherever they fought. But this is a false assumption and the writer makes this clear. The writer also states, “They don’t walk around telling the general populace how much they hurt or how much they struggle. They don’t speak of those nights spent dreaming of snipers and bombs. They don’t talk of their mid-day panics and fears.” Through this example, the columnist emphasizes the humility of soldiers. Many soldiers went through unimaginable experiences and relive those times on a daily basis; however, the service men and women do not want others to know of the pain and agony they are continuing to go through and do not want to flaunt the things they did for each American. But they did risk their lives for the country and should be appreciated for the pain they went through and are continuing to have. These modern day heroes were willing to give their lives for us and do not want much credit for the things they did, a simple thank you would suffice, and that is all these men and women want from the American people. With the usage of imagery in the blog, the writer makes the reader feel as if they were in the place of the soldier. He or she then truly feels for what the soldiers have been and are going through. When the author states, “The medals — earned in younger days — sparkle with an exceptional valor. Though this old man now struggles to shuffle down his stairs, this bravery has not diminished,” the reader can imagine the old, decrepit veteran struggling because of the sacrifice he made for them in an earlier time. The reader feels the want to help the veteran, and the one way to help is with a simple thank you. With these feelings, civilians want to express their gratitude to their protectors more and will go out of their way to do so because of being placed in the veteran’s shoes and feeling the guilt and remorse for not being thankful before.  

The word choice in this piece is very effective. The writer’s choice of diction glorifies service men and women. Words such as “brave,” “uniformed glory,” and “super heroes” give the soldiers a higher title. These words honor soldiers and makes citizens see these men and women in a different light; the writer reveres the service men and women and sets them above the others. These words convey a sense of heroism; people want heroes. By comparing soldiers to super heroes, the columnist makes people revere and think about what the men and women have done for them. The writer believes these people are heroes and wants them to be treated as such; heroes get thanked for what they do. The writer uses the phrase “fresh air” when discussing the military dress. The expression makes one think of a new birth. However, the soldiers cannot receive a new birth after their duty. The word choice here makes the reader think of how veterans do not get the chance to forget about the things they have been through and have a new birth. Another phrase in the blog “the least you can do,” was repeated multiple times throughout the piece. This phrase conveys the sense of disappointment the writer has for the American people. The columnist does want the reader to go beyond simply saying thank you, but many people do not even accomplish that task. The writer is saying these people risked their lives for you, the minimum requirement for you is to say thank you. The phrase “the least you can do,” makes people aware that he or she is not even achieving the smallest requirement on their way to gratitude for service men and women. The phrase is a call to action to get the smallest obligation of gratitude from civilians.

The newspaper writer did a great job of getting the point of the need for gratitude across. With many calls to action in the article, Americans have a strong knowledge of what the writer wants them to do after reading the article. The author used concrete imagery to place civilians in the shoes of the soldiers and used certain words to magnify the acts of the service men and women. The writer seems to say that while the soldiers returning home did not have to give all, they did give some and should be thanked for their service. 

This is what I believe all soldiers should receive.