Not only is murderer and liar Chris "American Sniper" Kyle universally lauded as a hero, not only are those who murdered Vietnamese from the air like John McCain termed heroes, and not only are American military personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan counted as heroes, because of the rampant military idolatry that is so prevalent in the United States—every veteran and active-duty member of the military is considered to be a hero.

It doesn't matter where the troops go, why they go, how long they stay, whether they should go, or what they do when they are there—the troops are all heroes.

It doesn't matter how many widows and orphans the troops make, how many bombs they drop, how many civilians they kill, how much infrastructure they destroy, how many bullets they fire, how many missiles they launch, or how many of "the enemy" they injure, maim, or kill—the troops are all heroes.

It doesn't matter how much hatred toward Americans the troops incite, how many terrorists they recruit by their actions, or how much blowback they cause—the troops are all heroes.

At the opposite end of the spectrum are those Americans who refused to be heroes—like "draft dodger" Muhammad Ali.