Hayes later apologized. Beinart defends Hayes:

I don’t share Hayes’ queasiness about the using the word “hero” to describe those Americans who died in Afghanistan and Iraq. In America today, where self-gratification is practically a national religion, there is something heroic about voluntarily placing your fate at your country’s service. But Hayes’ larger point—that in honoring the dead we should not surrender our critical faculties about war—is not only correct; it’s crucial.