First Time Hearing Rise Against - Reaction - Hero of War 

The slow transition in the choruses from "Hero of war - yeah that's what I'll be" to "Hero of war - Is that what they see?" and changing his favourite flag from the USA flag to the surrender flag that the girl dropped is absolutely genius songwriting to me. And then the first verse repeats at the end, signifying that the recruiter is just gonna find someone else.

A nice detail in the song is that the two first times he sang 'I'll carry THIS flag', talking about the American flag. The third time, he sang 'I brought home THAT flag', talking about the white flag the girl had been carrying. A great song by them is Prayer of the Regufee.

Tim McIlrath (tim mcilrath) is the singer for Rise Against. This song was inspired by the 2006 documentary The Ground Truth: After the Killing Ends, which focuses on soldiers' Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after returning home from war. The song tells the story of a guy who enlists in the military, figuring he'll be celebrated as a war hero after he does his duty. He ends up fighting overseas under horrific conditions, and ends up torturing a prisoner and killing a civilian under duress. When the video was released, Rise Against issued this statement: "'Hero Of War' is the story of one soldier, not all soldiers, as he battles not just the war around him, but the war that rages within. Inspired by true events, we were given the choice to either document the tribulations of these times as they unfold around us, or ignore them. To ignore these problems, in our opinion, is letting down the brave men and women who risk everything. 'Hero Of War' is our attempt to lift the stigma that surrounds everything from the skyrocketing suicide rate of troops, torture, internal sexual abuse, an under-funded VA, and the growing number of military personnel fighting Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as they return home."

The last chorus is the haunting one "A hero of war, is that what they see? Just medals and scars, so damn proud of me. I brought home that flag, now it gathers dust ...." I could be mistaken but Tim and the members of Rise Against I believe are anti-war.

I graduated high school in 1992, right before the Gulf War. Had a few friends that went, and a few that were in the 2nd Gulf War, and this song has healed a few more than words can say.

rise against are incredible, you gotta check out more of their stuff. they're a punk band, anti-capitalism, anti-military industrial complex, anti-bigotry, basically they stand against what any punk band worth their smoke stands against. i think you'll enjoy more of their catalog.

I got to see them live and let me tell you, when Tim came out with his acoustic guitar to play this song I absolutely lost my shit

2 others you should listen to by them with their music videos 1.make it stop septembers children 2.prayer of the refugee For 2 many miss the meaning because they arent aware rise against usually tells an important story and touches on important topics so you really got to pay attention to the video and you'll understand it

First time hearing this and I gotta say, my stone cold heart was deeply touched by this!

This song hits hard every time I hear it. Highlighting the moral injuries that many soldiers encountered during war. Whether the opposition forces wanted to be there or not, we were all just following orders. Even if our prisoners were treated with respect, you’re still taking someone from their families in their homeland. I Prevail did a song with a similar message called “Everytime you leave”.

Some of us, when we came home we didn’t feel like heroes. We just wanted to be accepted. But for the most part we were rejected, and we deal with what we had to do literally day to day and we are expected to be outstanding citizens, but we know that there is nothing to praise us for. We did what what we had to do to come home alive and bring our brothers and sisters home. This is totally raw emotion for what many of us feel coming home.

Loved his voice and message...!

More rise against please , they’re amazing and sing about such real and true things .

This was a really good reaction, no overselling and just really genuine (at least that's what it looked like to me). For sure would recommend Make It Stop (September's Children), gives me goosebumps as well

Everytime I hear that "flag White as snow" line, I get chills. Never been in the military (luckily), but being in that moment and seeing that flag, must be soul-destroying. Huge thanks to this Band and this song^^

met them in person , they're so nice and signed my hand when billy talent didnt want cause sharpie is bad for the skin .. loll :)

There’s not a music video for it but listen to Survivor Guilt by Rise Against. That is a great song too. An upside down flag means distress. They talked to a lot of veterans about their experience and that’s how this song was born.

Thanks for this song! One of my favorite the last 10 years!

I love Rise Against, and I'd be very interested to see you react to more from them! Here are some reccomendations Prayer of the Refugee Make It Stop (September's Children) Swing Life Away People Live Here Tragedy + Time

I spent 15 years working in a public high school and 3 times a year different military groups, army, navy and marines would come in and try and recruit kids into the service with their promises, glamour and lies And I talked some of them out of it I told them if they wanted to go into the military, do it with a purpose and because you want to serve, not because they promised you money and free college

This song was based on a documentary and the experiences of the soldiers in the documentary

None of us that went over there was looking to be a hero. And none of that came home ever look at ourselves as hero’s. My friends, my brothers and sisters that didn’t come home, those are the heroes. We went over there and did a job. A job that our country asked us to do. That’s it. Yeah, sometimes things go bad and you have to do some questionable things. Things that’ll stay with me until the day I die. But sometimes those things help keep other military members alive. And I’d rather them come home. This is more of a song regarding PTS and how real it is. Not so much anti war or anti military.

I had a Freind who was in the German army serving a 2 year service. Who had to do the same thing to a woman who was ultimately unarmed. He's never been the same since. That was 15 years ago.

I subscribed for the One Direction content but I’m absolutely delighted you’re checking Rise Against out! They’re one of my favorite bands ever. I recently saw them live for the first time and after it ended, I cried for 15 minutes straight because of all of the emotions!

This band taught me at a very young age that there are 2 sides to every story like different sides of a coin. Both sides are probably correct and wrong to some extent. That's just how life works.

I talked to Tim, the singer face to face. This a story about one of his friends.

Great reaction

yeah I've seen another comment absolutely react to Make it stop (September's Children) it's another thought provoking one

As a combat vet this song is truth. EVERYTIME I hear it I weep,

Wow. Spot on analysis sir

You should check out the song Swing Life Away by Rise Against, amazing song

You should check out "Wrong Side of Heaven" and "Gone Away" by Five Finger Death Punch (FFDP)

He wasn't in the military, but his father and grandfather were. So he has the experience of seeing the "heroes" at home.

He actually wrote this song after talking to a military member about their experiences they had.

Holy heck! How did I not see that you have reacted to Rise Against before? Almost a whole year ago for this one and I see there's more. I'm definitely down for this ride. :)

I wonder how different we and americans see this song

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! Christmas song for you! Diana Ankudinova - What a Wonderful World The reaction bloggers have already called this cover the best performance of this legendary Louis Armstrong song! You have hardly heard a voice of such rare beauty in your life. Enjoy!

Really wanna say I fckin appreciate you for getting it. Most don't. Big ups.

First time hearing this, damn heavy but good.

Love these guys!! This is one of their more acoustic ones (which makes sense for the song), and it's just heart breaking to hear. If you wanted to hear some harsher stuff from them, some of my favourites are 'Re-Education (Through Labor)' and 'Prayer of the Refugee' :)

Please more Rise Against. Hero of war shows what the American military did and still does in certain places to innocent people just because of a stupid ideology conflict which is never shown by the glorified military propaganda in the US. It's a beautiful anti war anthem!

It's a very very heavy song

Disparity by Design is another great Rise Against song & a very thought provoking, true topic.

The last time he sang I brought home that flag… it meant the white flag 🏳 not any other

For all the people that do not understand war, Wait till it comes to America.

Almost everyone stopped believing the "cause" while they were deployed for a long time. Always new mission and it never ends, 18 years in middle east. Older people had single mission in WW2.

this is refering to the guards at abu grade prison. they left a bad scar on the men and women who served and collected potential prisoners/terrorist

Juxtaposition is the word, with emotional compartmentalization. Moral delima with virtuous intent.

Five finger death punch “wrong side of heaven” is similar

Here’s the thing that those who have never served don’t see or feel. Often it gets glorified by recruiters and you are made to feel like you’ll be respected for serving your country. What they don’t tell you is the disrespect and criticism by folks who’ve never put their own lives in danger yet feel they have the right to judge you after you come home. 22 vets a day commit suicide because of what they’ve been through and how they are treated when they come home. I’m a two theater combat vet and I suffer severe PTSD from having to do and see things most people will never have to deal with yet they seem to think they have the right to judge me never having been in my circumstances

The things that you regret aren't the things you were ordered to do, it's the things you were not ordered to do that haunt you. BTW. As far as I know this song is inspired by a veterans story it's not the lead singer though.

The flag upside down is the international sign of distress so i guess they where saying that guy was in a bad spot and needed help

The upside down flag is supposed to represent a country in distress, they had it as a backdrop of some shows in the deep south and people lost their shit because they thought they were anti-American, and anti-troop, just goes to show those people weren’t paying attention.

Hi... So try a german punk band:die toten Hosen-mehr davon, live Rock am Ring, Hals und Beinbruch(crazy singer s does... ☠️) /or:Null Positiv - wo Rauch ist, ist auch Feuer (strong female voice)

Please react to “Too Much To Ask” or “Small Talk” by Niall Horan

I won't be surprise if this has all ready been said in this comment section, but an upside down flag (at least in the US) is a single of dire distress.

When he sings that she waved a white flag breaks me everytime

Hi Danny..how was your Christmas ?

When I first heard that song, I was waiting in line at the counter in a supermarket, headphones on. I started crying, because it touched me so much. It doesn't just make me sad, it also makes me really angry, because especially 'Muricans do not understand that there is NOTHING good in war and any sort of armed conflict. 'Murica is doing resource raids, nothing else.

Do savior!

So, Tim McIlrath was never in the military, HOWEVER he talked to a bunch of vets to get their experiences for this song. This is a POV, but not Tim's himself.

An upside-down American flag flying is an urgent distress call, with loss of life or property.

song is beautiful, don't miss out on the truth of having to fight.

This not a comment inflating the US ego, because I'm not entirely proud to be an American right now, but I've always felt instead of "a flag white as snow", the lyric should be "the red white and blue", implying that this little girl was celebrating that we were there to save her, and the reason she ran towards the soldier was because wanted to say thank you or even hug him.

2:55 Yes, your doe like beta male mannerisms and voice made that VERY clear. 🤣

You're loving it but from a view of a soldier this is song from someone who has never been a soldier. It's what they think we are. It's anti American and anti soldier.