Support the Troops AND the Soldiers

Have you noticed how the media always refer to men and women in the military as “the troops”? I find it disconcerting that at some point several years ago, we stopped hearing references to soldiers, and instead we hear about a “troop” who died, or a “troop” who was deployed to service. Do you suppose that was purposeful syntax to distance us from the human pain and suffering of war? When I hear a news item saying that 15 troops died, for example, it sounds less severe than hearing that 15 soldiers died or “15 human beings died”. In a case like that, that’s exactly what happened – 15 lives were lost – but a word like troops brings to mind images of random, faceless shapes in uniforms so that the statistics can remain generic and tidy. But to the friends and family members who lose a dear member of their life, it’s extremely personal and horrific. I know that casualties are a natural by-product of wars, but we should never lose sight of the fact that wars are fought by human beings, and human lives are damaged and lost in every war regardless of how the media relays that information to us.