This was the best of a limited set of answers - could have used a "None of the Above" on this one.

I think some people, as evidenced by the responses on this poll, have taken honor for our troops to a level that is beyond healthy to the point of obsession. Any word of criticism towards the war, the government or even military decisions are attacked in a rabid fashion that defies logic.

Personally, I honor the troops while disagreeing with the wars and the politics behind them.

I say this as someone who not only served 8 ½ years Active Duty in the Navy and Submarine Service myself, but as someone whose brother spent 4 years in the Navy, whose husband spent 4 years in the Army and whose father spent 24 years in the Air Force including 3 tours in Vietnam.

I know about service to our Country and Honor. I also know when to limit that honor when it stops being sane and approaches the level of Godhood, where the military can do no wrong simply because it IS the military, and everyone in it is automatically assumed to be a Hero simply for serving - regardless of how bad a person they are, or how nasty they behave. In those cases, I can honor the uniform and the tradition, but despite the individual in it who disgraces those traditions with their cowardly and despicable acts (like those shown here on SodaHead so many times).

This question is deeper than it seems at first blush.

Historically, From the time of the minutemen, we have been a nation of citizen-soldiers, primarily, wartime volunteers and conscripts. America did not have a large, standing, volunteer military until the early 80's. So we have only had 30 years or so to get used to the idea of having a standing army to fight our wars without resorting to utilizing the general populace.

With conscription or large scale volunteering, almost everyone has a stake in supporting the troops.This is not the case with a standing army. people can largely go about their daily business without the direct impact of war. So supporting the troops becomes a much more problematic stance.

Before, professional soldiers were widely viewed (rightly or wrongly) as people who couldn't function in regular society. When I served in the early to mid 80's, it was the "new" all-volunteer army crawling from the morass and PR nightmare that was Vietnam. We did not get a lot of respect at that time, but probably more so than the Vietnam vets received. Gradually, the idea was coming of a "professional" army. Still, veterans of the Grenada campaign didn't get a lot of love.

The movement began to pick up momentum after the first Gulf War. I think that it is here that public support for our professional soldiers began to be practiced and became more universally accepted. Additionally, by that time, those disrespected Vietnam vets had become middle- aged, middle- class with children and brought a better understanding of the sacrifices soldiers must undergo to the general populace.

In my view, Americans are really just learning to respect the military. Additionally, a professional military isolates the populace by essentially fighting the war for them. It's too easy to get caught up in the daily life and not even think about the war. There's sort of a disconnect and unreality about it that disturbs me.

So to answer the question; No, I do not believe that USAers hold soldiers in too high esteem. I answered "I support our troops! This requires me to not think at all!" But it does indeed require me to think and what I believe is that, we, as Americans, have not collectively learned to support a professional army without having to constantly remind ourselves to do so.