Proper names of specific military awards and decorations are capitalized (Medal of Honor, Victoria Cross). Terms such as soldier, sailor, airman, marine, and coast guardsman are not capitalized when describing an individual or a group, but are when used as a rank (see above).

Why do you capitalize soldier?

“The word (soldier) is already established in the language. It's a generic word. “He can capitalize it if he wants to give it emphasis and make it stand out in text. As far as the dictionary is concerned, it's still a generic word.

Is Soldiers capitalized AP style?

foreign service members Do not capitalize the words soldier, sailor, airman, marine or coast guardsman when referring to foreign service members. If a foreign service member's rank corresponds to a U.S. rank, use AP style. If not, spell out the rank (e.g., Commodore, Field Marshal.)