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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/35659
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/35659
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

In addition to real war veterans whom you don't want to hurt, there's one more side to WWII. Intellectually, I know that there were good people and less good people among American troops at the time. Emotionally, Allied Troops are the reason any of my family survived. I owe a debt of gratitude to every one of those soldiers. That too is something you have to deal with, with the setup you have chosen for your story.

So how do you deal with it?

First, make your villain a well-rounded character. Make him interesting, human, someone we can understand, if not agree with. Cliché villains are boring anyway, and even more so when you're dealing with a topic that would be sensitive for some.

Don't let the 'veteran' tag be a [TV TROPES WARNING] [Freudian excuse](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FreudianExcuse) for the villain's actions. It isn't an excuse, and it is in fact the most offensive trope I can think of, for any unfortunate situation: it implies that the character's evil actions are somehow OK because of what he went through. It both cheapens the experience, and deprives the character of free will. And it suggests that "anyone in this situation would be the same", which is offensive to anyone in that situation.

You can contrast your character with a war veteran who is a normal decent person - a minor character, perhaps the antagonist's comrade. That would help you get the point across that your antagonist is not representative of any group, and that you're not offering an excuse for his despicable actions.

Original score: 6