I notice a tendency to refer to our military members as somebody's "kids" quite frequently. For instance "our kids are dying in Iraq" or "their kids should be drafted".
Personally, I find this language abhorrent; it dehumanizes and objectifies our soldiers into mere property of their parents. The fact that most people use this terminology unthinkingly only makes it more insidious.
Our soldiers are adults and should be treated as their own independent individuals. They have their own pain sensors, too.
Update: For clarification, since many commenters seem to misread this point, I have no problem with using the term "kid". The problem I have is with using it to imply that somehow the parents are more important than the individuals themselves (and did you notice that we rarely talk about husbands or wives in the same way?)
Just think about the following pairs of sentences.
"Dick Cheney's daughter should be drafted"
"Elizabeth Cheney should be drafted"
"George Bush's daughters should be drafted"
"Jenna Bush should be drafted"
Who would potentially make the ultimate sacrifice here?
The second sentence also makes it clear just now nonsensical the first one is. Why should somebody be drafted just because her name happens to be Cheney or Bush? There is nothing Elizabeth Cheney has done that would justify forcing her into the meatgrinder. Nor does being a party girl justify sending Jenna Bush to Iraq against her will.
Other than being their father's daughters, they are no more special than I am.
Language matters. Please focus on the person giving their life, don't make them just an object.
Update II: Thank you for all the feedback. It actually helped me to clarify in my own mind just why I resented this language so much. It had been based more on a gut feeling, but actually it's very real.
You see, my parents drank the CoolAid. They do not live in the USA, but they are still clones of any 29%er. At the same time, I was a draft victim. Actually, I did manage to evade the draft (and am very proud of that)
So every time somebody talks about "sending a Republican's kid to Iraq" they are, in a way, talking about me - as if I was nothing, as if my parent's CoolAid meant more than my own progressive leaning.