Here's something to think about:
is what soldiers do cooperation, or just submission?
You guys call them heros, and don't get me wrong, it's a damn big commitment saying you'll die for your country, but is it truly HEROISM?
For instance, there was some lady in the military awhile ago who was kidnapped, and after she was finally released, the government portrayed her as a hero. Now what she went through is tough, and cruel, but she didn't do anything particularly heroic.
For comparison, some time ago, there was this guy who fell into the metro tracks and was having a seizure in NYC, and another man jumped down and laid down on top of him in 1 of the drainage ditches, and saved the guys life. Now THAT is heroism.
You call killing in the name of freedom or democracy heroism? I disagree. I call finding a way to settle matters without killing heroism. I would call the man who made peace with all the muslim countries a hero. Not the man who manages to kill them all off.