veterans every day

The passage of Veterans Day and the military/CIA scandal gives rise to thoughts about war and warriors.
We should honor our military members not because they are some kind of superbeings, unfailingly kind, honest and honorable, but because they have left their lives, families and their own safety to go into that indescribable hell of war and do our fighting for us. Most of all our leaders should honor them by NEVER sending them out unnecessarily. (Still haven't gotten there yet, at least not as of 2001). The rest of us should be extremely grateful, but not let that gratitude make us revere them as more than human.
I understand it can be hard to honor someone who might have (you don't know) done something unspeakable in the midst of battle, but believe me, it has been done thousands of times already. Only in movies are U.S., or any other, soldiers always noble. I have a friend who wants all fighting to be done with humans, not machines because he believes fewer civilian casualties will result. I fear there may be more instead. Remember all the incidents in Iraq? Those mainly involved human atrocities, not unthinking machines.
Many are now concerned about the leak of classified material through the avenue of an illicit liaison, or the illicit liaison itself. Petraus even found it necessary to resign over it. After all his years in service, can we say with any certainty that he never killed civilians or other innocents? And my point is, should we even ask?
In short, we must get beyond expecting superhuman exploits from our military and instead expect basic human wisdom and restraint in our deployment of them.
That is the least they and we can expect of America on every veterans day.