How are soldiers better than civilians?

That is not necessarily true. Many would say it is because they are braver; after all they are willing to fight and risk their lives.

However, a soldier is only better than a civilian in the case that the former believes what he is doing is right, and he is fighting for the right reasons. In another case, where a civilian is not a soldier because he believes that the war is being fought for the wrong reasons, he may be better than the soldier. Additionally, any soldier who commits a war crime is automatically not as good as a civilian who would not commit such a war crime. Overall, it gets very complicated and depends on someone's values and beliefs.

For example, under these standards, a Nazi soldier who believed he was doing a good thing would be considered better than an American citizen who was too afraid to fight.

Hopefully I didn't confuse you too much.