fallen soldiers
Killed in combat
Fallen soldiers are military personnel who have died in combat or during wartime service.
The term carries solemn, honorific weight—used in memorials, speeches, and ceremonies to honor those killed while serving: We gathered to remember the fallen soldiers of that battle.
The euphemism softens the bluntness of "dead" while emphasizing sacrifice.
Sometimes shortened to simply the fallen.
- ultimate sacrificeDying for a cause
- cenotaphTomb without a body
- remembranceAct of holding something in mind
- casualtyPerson harmed in disaster
- infantrymanGround-based combat soldier
boots on the ground · sacrifice · monument · World War I · roll call · valor · survivor guilt · war poetry · battlefield · honor guard · mourning · tombstone · military honors · tribute · eternal flame · memorial · bereavement · military cemeteries
- Arlington Cemeteryeternal flame, headstones, burial plots, grave markers, changing of the guard
- war memorialwar memorial, military cemetery, national cemetery, Arlington National Cemetery, war dead
- collective memorycollective memory, public memory, remembrance, commemoration, commemorations
- Union soldiersUnion infantry, federal troops, enlisted men, volunteers, privates
- war casualtiescasualties, war casualties, war dead, killed in action, wounded in action
- war literaturewar stories, war novels, war diary, war journal, war poetry
fallen soldiersdeserters
Those who abandon service
draft dodgers · cowards · shirkers · war profiteers · conscientious objectors