A soldier gets paid, as he fights for his beliefs. A mercenary fights for his pay. If the distinction escapes you then the whole world of human efforts must look pretty wan in your eyes.

I'm very impressed by much done by people, especially people who walk against the tide of collective complacency where man's violence against man is concerned.

With respect, "a soldier fights for his beliefs" is I think a pretty romanticised view, I think most soldiers are probably more pragmatic than that, it's a career choice, short and simple. And to top it off they are heralded by the public as "heroes" for "risking their lives". So -if they're lucky- they don't get to feel bad for killing complete strangers in foreign lands who have never posed either them, their loved ones or indeed their countrymen any genuine threat. However justified they may have felt about it all.

My grandfather went to war during WWII because it was expected of him, he didn't volunteer, he was made to join like many, many like him. He enjoyed traveling the world, that's as much as I recall him saying about it. Though fortunately for him he saw no real combat, he just guarded people.

My partner's father joined the Marines, he travelled a lot in hot countries and killed five brown skinned strangers. He joined because it was a job that paid better than most around at the time. Is the world a safer place because he killed those five brown skinned strangers in far away countries? I would doubt it frankly.

A few heroes there may be in war, but I would suggest that they are in the minority. "A soldier fights for his beliefs" is as good a bit of rhetoric as any I feel, including that posted in the opening post.