Comments on: Sailor – Soldier – Marine – Airman

By: SW

SW — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 14:00:21 +0000

floyd…Fortunately for you there are Those in the Military– Marines, Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Enlisted Men and Women, Guardsmen and All–Who are defending your privilege to be an idiot.

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 19:02:18 +0000

Marine has always been capitalized. Floyd YOU obviously have never served or you are one of those that live in shadows i.e. Dishonorable Discharge OTH or BCD. I am one that has earned respect and can prove it and regardless of any of them boys and girls that go through the fire of Marine bootcamp THEY have earned my respect!!
You are not a Marine until you Pass and Review on graduation day and from that day on you will ALWAYS and FOREVER be a Marine. I have no idea why I even bother to address this obvious troll Floyd!

By: NCCM(ret)

NCCM(ret) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 01:07:24 +0000

@Floyd – I will always, in my articles and correspondence, capitalize Sailor, Airman, Guardsman, Marine, Soldier. Those in service of our country have earned my respect and will continue to receive it.

By: sofwildbill

sofwildbill — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:23:21 +0000

The term “Marine” has been a proper noun for some time, much to the consternation of many counterparts.

Personally, I think if you strap on the uniform, you should be exempt from taxes.

But I am an extreme patriot.

By: Joshua Hudson

Joshua Hudson — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:11:35 +0000

The term “Family Member” was also declared a proper noun, when it is referring to a military family member.

Floyd,
The reason we use “respect” nouns is not to determine the respect of an individual, but the respect of the service. However, these are not grammar guidelines but “style” guidelines. There are many style books out there. Journalists use the AP Style book, while academicians usually use the MLB or Chicago Style books. The military has their own style book, which is why you see a big difference between military writing regarding ranks compared to civilian journalists.

The use of Sailor, Airman, Guardsman, Marine, Soldier as a proper noun instead of a common noun is just one more example of this style difference. It creates a significant, but subtle, change in how we are addressing the group of people. There is nothing wrong with with showing our respect to those individuals (as a collective) by offering them a capital letter.

By: Floyd Gondolli

Floyd Gondolli — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 14:33:34 +0000

Ha! This is one rich article.

Please, ol’ boy, enlighten me…what’s a “respect” noun? Not every sailor, solider, marine, airman, etc. deserves your respect just because of their chosen profession. Need I remind you that respect must be EARNED before it is rendered?

“Tell them [English teachers] they need to follow the lead of their respective military service heads and update their grammar manuals”

Oh, man. Please tell me you aren’t serious about this? Military leaders are now in the business of setting trends in proper English? That notion is as laughable as it is absurd. I sincerely hope you are joking, but something tells me you’re dead serious…

Just in case you are joking, lemme be the first to howl: Bwaahhahahahahaha!!!