American Honor History

Honor is somebody selflessly sacrificing to help another person or group of people; it’s being admired by people for having courage. When many people think of honor, they think of pride and bravery. The act of honor has changed very much over time; it has kept some old meanings but gained new ones. Although people may argue that it is the same, the definition of honor has changed over time and taken on a greater meaning due to time itself and culture. For example, modern American honor looks significantly different than it did a few ages ago. Where did the idea of honor begin and what was it like? To begin with the history, in the olden days, honor was earned by men who could prove their manliness by winning a duel. Chris, the writer of Dueling

The first thing many people think of when American honor is brought up is U.S. soldiers fighting in a war; these soldiers live by three words: duty, honor, and country. In 1962, General MacArthur gave his Thayer Award Speech known as Duty, Honor, Country, and said, “Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be” (General MacArthur). These three words are the words that soldiers live by. This quote demonstrates what honor means to the American culture. Another culture who values honor as much as the U.S. military does is Japan. So, what is the difference between American honor and Japanese honor? One example is the Kamikaze pilots; they saw honor as sacrificing themselves to hurt the people who their country were evil. Toshimasa Hayashi, a Kamikaze pilot, wrote a journal entry on August 9, 1945 and said, “Today, I shall fly one of the very latest in war planes,...a Ryusei, and I will slam it into an enemy carrier. Goodbye, my dear parents, and everyone. Thank you, all my comrades” (Suicide for Honor). Hayashi is stating that he will fly into another plane to protect his country. This shows that these pilots believed they brought honor to their country by sacrificing themselves when they crashed into “enemy carriers”. Both of these quotes and examples prove that the definition of honor varies due to the culture of