There is really not a great deal of difference

between the oath I took when I was commissioned and the simple Pledge of Allegiance we say since childhood. Parse them down and the general idea is pretty much the same. Civilian construction workers helped the Marines defend Wake Island against the Japanese. The Hood was a new battleship when sunk by the Bismarck and went down with civilian workers on board. What oath did the four civilian workers murdered in Fallajah take? A Peace Corps worker killed in Africa is no less serving his/her country than someone in a rifle platoon.