One can honor military personnel without honoring war

This is an interesting post and discussion of the Military honors Obama has bestowed on a service member. These seem to be mostly civilians in the discussion and I have had one comment made by a civilian member of the public about this conflict recently.  How would you reply?

 I have been opposed to all military operations in the Middle East for as long as I can remember. I believe, and have believed, that we have no business sending our military to that part of the world to deal with internal issues in the countries there. I was completely opposed to George W. Bush’s decision to invade Iraq and Afghanistan at the time, and oppose our continuation of military operations there. I do understand that immediate withdrawal isn’t the best way to leave, though. 

However, President Obama’s honoring of an enlisted man who had volunteered to serve 10 deployments was not honoring the war. It was honoring the service of one man as an example of all of those who serve in our military and are deployed to conflict areas. They did not start the conflict. They have nothing to do with the strategy of any military operations. They have, instead, joined the military for various reasons, and serve in the military as ordered by those who do plan the strategy. They are members of our military. 

Read the rest here