Chet E. Green: Knighthoods from cardboard swords - Why the nation exaggerates its praise for the military

  The evidence is in just two words, "hero" and "warrior." Overused, and inaccurately overused, they've been redefined. Once people had to voluntarily risk their physical safety to be heroes.

  Last March at a lecture he gave in Petoskey, Michigan, recent Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer referred several times to four names on his wrist. The men were slain fellow Marines and a Corpsman. "They're the heroes," he said. But today simply enlisting is called a brave act. As for the term "warrior," modern arms include night-vision gear, direct-fire rockets and computerized smart guns that hit people hiding behind rocks, but "warrior" conjures images like samurai and Prince Valiant. Chain mail can almost be heard clicking and chinging.