Modern American Honor

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Have you ever seen the Disney movie “Mulan”? Have you heard the opening song “Honor to Us All”? Honor is a very interesting topic due to the many factors, such as culture, that have big effects on it. Although some might argue that honor never changes, honor is diverse throughout history and culture based on gender, the ages lived through, and the morals that one person might have; which has an effect on what modern American honor is. Now, if honor changes, then what is honor?
Since there are many different types of honor based on the many different cultures, there are also many different definitions of honor. Dr. Mark Cooney, a professor of sociology at the University of Georgia since 1991 wrote, “Traditional honor cultures tend, also, to …show more content…

The song ‘God Bless The U.S.A’ written in 1983 and sang by Lee Greenwood a year later has a few lines that say, “And I won’t forget the men who died Who gave that right to me And I’d gladly sat up next to you And defend Her still today” (Greenwood). To explain this more in depth, modern American honor is standing up to fight/defend the U.S in any logical and ethical way. In modern America, one way that we show honor is through a day called Memorial day. On a U.S. website all about Memorial day it states, “Today we must recognize an unfortunate fact of life: our beloved country was formed and is protected by the blood of warriors” (Memorial Day 2015). To sum things up, the above quote shows why Memorial Day is celebrated in the U.S.; to honor the ones that died to form the country and the ones protecting it. In short in modern American honor is shown through pop culture such as Lee Greenwood’s song ‘God Bless The U.S.A’ and a day dedicated to honoring the fallen who shaped the …show more content…

In an article written by Justin McCurry in August of 2015 on the last two Japanese Kamikaze pilots Hisao Horiyama, one of the last two pilots, said in the interview, “‘I felt bad that I hadn’t been able to sacrifice myself for my country. My comrades who had died would be remembered in infinite glory, but I had missed my chance to die in the same way. I felt like I had let everyone down” (McCurry). Reading between the lines, one of Japan’s ways of honor was, to put it bluntly, commit suicide in war if you were unsuccessful or lost the war. In the same interview Horiyama also says. “‘[...] Even if we were to die, we knew it was for a worthy cause. Dying was the ultimate fulfillment of our duty, and we were commanded not to return. We knew that if we returned alive that our superiors would be angry’” (McCurry). The above statement helps to support that suicide is a way of honor. Japanese honor in war is shown as suicide if you lose the

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