POLL: Are Members Of The Armed Forces Heroes?

If you are in the armed forces do people think of you as a hero? Well, apparently, Americans, Germans and Britons feel very differently.

A new survey by YouGov asked which members of the armed forces, if any, should be considered heroes.

In the US, where half of responders said that everyone serving in the armed forces is a hero, regardless of their role or experience.

In Germany, the most common response (30%) was that no members of the armed forces should be described as heroes.

Britons are split. One third (32%) consider all Armed Forces personnel to be heroes, while another third (31%) believe that only those who have performed particularly brave acts should be described as heroes.

The generational difference was also considered.

While in Britain and Germany younger people are the most likely to consider all personnel heroes, in the US it is the over 40s.

In the UK, 39% of 18-29 year-olds gave this answer – a figure which fell with ever age group down to 27% of 60+ year-olds.

Older British people were more likely to answer that only those troops who had performed brave acts should be described as heroes (37%).

There were also some differences based on gender.

Women in the US are substantially more likely than men to consider all the troops heroes, with a 15 percentage point gap between the genders (57% of women vs 42% of men).

Both British and American women were more likely than men to consider all military personnel heroes.

It's now your turn to vote... Who do you think should be described as hero?