As a part of one of my former careers, I was privileged to escort a couple Medal of Honor recipients to the Indy 500 some years ago (the year the City unveiled its Medal of Honor Monument down on the Canal). None of those folks claimed any special credit for "doing what I had to do", which I also found to be the norm with thousands of other service members doing their jobs over the years I served. While it's true that if you ask most Service members why they are serving, they will tell you they're doing it for the paycheck, or the college fund, or because they like the work, and if you ask a combat trooper why he puts his life on the line, he'll usually say it's for his comrades rather than his country, as others have said upthread, all military personnel are performing one of the most important services for which the federal government has responsibility - the protection and defense of our way of life.
In the same vein, law enforcement officers and firefighters, whether volunteer or full-time professional, continually place themselves in harm's way in defense of lives and property in our local communities. It really doesn't matter why they choose their particular profession; what does matter is the service itself. This doesn't negate the worth of any other profession or vocation; it doesn't make the surgeon's or the nurse's long duty days any less worthy, nor does it make the truck driver's contribution any less important, but to the extent that they are out in the public eye and subject to public acclaim or criticism (and "Monday Morning Quarterbacking" for their actions) they are as deserving of our acknowledgment as any other service professions. Not all soldiers (speaking generically), police or firefighters live up to our idealistic views of their professions, but that is true of any profession you can name and doesn't negate the value of their service nor the idealistic acclaim we accord to them.
In the same vein, law enforcement officers and firefighters, whether volunteer or full-time professional, continually place themselves in harm's way in defense of lives and property in our local communities. It really doesn't matter why they choose their particular profession; what does matter is the service itself. This doesn't negate the worth of any other profession or vocation; it doesn't make the surgeon's or the nurse's long duty days any less worthy, nor does it make the truck driver's contribution any less important, but to the extent that they are out in the public eye and subject to public acclaim or criticism (and "Monday Morning Quarterbacking" for their actions) they are as deserving of our acknowledgment as any other service professions. Not all soldiers (speaking generically), police or firefighters live up to our idealistic views of their professions, but that is true of any profession you can name and doesn't negate the value of their service nor the idealistic acclaim we accord to them.
