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I think members of the military deserve a certain amount of respect by default, as do those in other types of emergency/critical services such as police, fire, ambulance, etc. (as mentioned above). But I feel there might be an unhealthy level of attention given to them from the general public. It seems at times that members of the armed forces (alive and dead) are often viewed as hallowed members of society, and I think it's applied disproportionately to them in many cases.
I'd just as soon or sooner have just as much respect for certain members of other parts of society—namely, the sciences, business, charity, and the hard "frontline" workers in other industries, such as manufacturing, mining/resources, medical, etc.
I think the situation in the U.S. differs from that in Canada. I tend to perceive the U.S as being quite a bit more militaristic than we are here. We do pay our respects to our fallen, and we take it very seriously, but I'm not sure we're so overt when it comes to treating those in the armed forces as they are in the U.S. I could be wrong. I'm not saying it doesn't happen here; I'm just getting the feeling that the level of intensity differs.
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön
Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot
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