What is behind the military culture in the U.S.?

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In areas of the U.S. where the military culture seems particularly strong and has existed for a long time, such as perhaps the South, what are the true factors motivating families where generations have chosen the military as a career?

In communities where there is a lot of pride in military service, the death of a soldier is often seen as very honorable since that soldier has given his or her life for his/her country. Therefore, the pain of the loss of a child from a parent's viewpoint might be somewhat mitigated by the fact that a tightly knit pro-military community would probably be more supportive of the bereaved family. Indeed, there might be a certain level of heightened respect and honor shown towards that family for the sacrifice it has made.

What if the community wasn't as supportive? Would the grieving families be more likely to question whether it was "worth it" for their family member to have gone off and been killed during military service? When soldiers came back from Vietnam, they were sometimes badly received by certain segments of American society because Vietnam, particularlly in its latter stages, was a very unpopular war. This made it hard for returning soldiers and their families. Similarly, it was probably harder for the families of soldiers who had died to be comforted by those in surrounding communities or maybe even their own.communities.

Does the degree towards which a family unquestionably accepts the death of a family member as a "duty" to "G*d and country", to use the cliche, depend upon the consensus of the surrounding community as to whether military service is unconditionally a positive thing? If such a consensus didn't exist, would "military families" begin to question whether wars were always fought for patriotic reasons, as opposed to other reasons which might have more to do with politics or economics, for instance???
 
I agree with what I think is your hypothesis, that military families are born from a community support for this kind of honor and duty towards one's country.

Often a military community support group is driven by hardworking lower middle class workers who have fallen on difficult times, in combination with a religious environment that teaches the need to be bold, courageous, and be all that you can be. However, being all that you can be in a culture where nothing has ever been simple or easy, results in a mightier and more militaristic strategy to demonstrating courage and rising to the top.

This desire to engage in all that it takes to protect, defend, and be the backbone of America is often without awareness as to what type of warfare the US commanders will train you for, and hence the rest of the game is in the hands of US military leaders at the top who teach the volunteers the importance of following orders in order to ensure human survival.

This is how the process begins. The followers then are acting in accordance with group, putting the interests of a nation ahead of their individual needs, and the families are trained to accept this as a positive necessity.
 
I'd say it goes on a case by case basis...

-Sometimes it's tradition... my father and his father and his father, etc... all served.

-Sometimes (most times actually) it's because of a lack of choice or percieved lack of choice. Kids from poor areas (both inner cities and rural) sometimes feel far removed from any other option. They may not have access to schooling or good jobs and be exposed to crime and poor living conditions. The idea of the military with their signing bonuses, career options, coverage of living expenses, travel, comraderie, etc... is just to good to pass up.
This is true,, studies have long shown the disproportionate amount of "poor" people in our armed services.

- Its also about patriotism... like after 9/11. Some people were so angry they personally wanted to go kick Osama's @ss.

- For a small percentage (ok, maybe not that small.. heh, I know a bunch of soldiers) its good old fashioned fun, violence and psychoness. Some people wanna kill man, what better way then legally and with your very own M4? or M16? Or grenade? Thats a dirty secret no one will admit, but its true.
 
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