he·ro [heer-oh]
noun, plural -roes; for 5 also -ros.
1. a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.
2. a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities orhas performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model orideal: He was a local hero when he saved the drowning child.
3. the principal male character in a story, play, film, etc.
4. Classical Mythology.
a. a being of godlike prowess and beneficence who oftencame to be honored as a divinity.
b. (in the Homeric period) a warrior-chieftain of specialstrength, courage, or ability.
c.(in later antiquity) an immortal being; demigod.
5. hero sandwich.
We have all heard the word, "hero" bandied about so much lately, it almost seems overused. This got me wondering, what do people mean when they call someone a hero? Is there a shared cultural reference for the term? Do I have any particular people I think of as heroes, or do I just toss the term out like a generic blanket? Who are your heroes, and how did they earn this distinction in your mind?
Prior to 9/11, I did not hear the term "hero" applied to living persons very often. Someone might make an heroic effort to help his team win a baseball game, or maybe a high school kid would describe her favorite teacher as a hero because of the way that teacher was able to inspire her students, particularly in difficult situations. Occasionally, someone from the ski patrol or the fire department would rescue someone and earn a hero's praise.
In all cases, the actions of brave, courageous, skillful, or just lucky individuals were likened to the heroic feats of glory attributed to ancient and mythical heroes like Hercules. No one really thought that these modern heroes were demigods. Instead, they were thought of as special people, people naturally a cut above the rest of us who, in a special time and place, had a moment to shine. Our frame of reference for heroes included imaginary heroes in comic books and blockbuster action movies on one extreme, and hero-in-name-only sandwiches on the other. The middle was wide open.
Then 9/11 happened. We all realized that heroes are not special people or talented people or even extraordinary people who willingly accept risk, but ordinary people who, in one fleeting, defining moment, completely forget about themselves and act with out thinking. The man who rationally decides to become a fireman is not a hero. The fireman who goes up 86 flights of stairs into a burning WTC building, knowing it might collapse, in order to possibly save at least one other person--how could that action be anything other than heroic?
Or how about this: "Let's roll!" Courageous people are not immune to fear. In fact, bravery can only exist where fear is overcome. Courageous people feel fear, but they are able to move when most remain frozen.
No one wants to be called a hero unless they feel they did something heroic to earn the title. Did you ever notice how baseball players will have a good year, but after they get the obscenely high contract they crumble? If you're worth $24 million dollars a year, fine. But if someone PAYS you to be worth $24 million, well, that's a different story.
Meanwhile, consider a few examples where pay is obviously not a factor in perceived valor: the cop who works a beat for $50 K a year, or the soldier on his second tour of Iraq or Afghanistan who patrols a village for $38K--plus room and board. The ticker tape parade for the World Series Champions is all in good fun, but there is something off-putting about the glory heaped on a team of baseball players with an average salary of $7 million each. Our returning WWII veterans got a ticker tape parade, too. They were making about $720 per year, plus an extra $2 per month if they had been awarded a Medal of Honor. Consider the returning Vietnam-era vet who made $2,775 per year and came home to protests, and worse. We treat our returning OEF / OIF veterans much better, which is great. Still, where's the love for our urban public school teachers?
There are two recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor whose stories are particularly moving to me. When I think of heroes, I think of two: Army Ranger 1LT Stephen Doane, a distant relative, who gave up his life in Vietnam; and Army Sapper SFC Paul Smith, an engineer in my friend's battalion who died in Baghdad. I have visited these men's graves in Arlington. Their names are both enshrined in the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes. I have a rubbing of 1LT Doane's name inscribed on the Vietnam Memorial wall. When I was in Baghdad, I went to the place where had SFC Smith died four years earlier. I also went to the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the concrete gym that was named in his honor. Why a concrete gym? Well, we built a gym out of concrete after shrapnel sliced through the tent which house the old gym and killed a soldier who was running on a treadmill. I like to think of the gym walls protecting soldiers just as SFC Smith died protecting his troops.
I started this post with the dictionary definition of hero. I will end it with the Medal of Honor citations of two American soldiers who epitomize the word.
2. a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities orhas performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model orideal: He was a local hero when he saved the drowning child.
3. the principal male character in a story, play, film, etc.
4. Classical Mythology.
a. a being of godlike prowess and beneficence who oftencame to be honored as a divinity.
b. (in the Homeric period) a warrior-chieftain of specialstrength, courage, or ability.
c.(in later antiquity) an immortal being; demigod.
5. hero sandwich.
Hero: It's not just a sandwich...
We have all heard the word, "hero" bandied about so much lately, it almost seems overused. This got me wondering, what do people mean when they call someone a hero? Is there a shared cultural reference for the term? Do I have any particular people I think of as heroes, or do I just toss the term out like a generic blanket? Who are your heroes, and how did they earn this distinction in your mind?
Prior to 9/11, I did not hear the term "hero" applied to living persons very often. Someone might make an heroic effort to help his team win a baseball game, or maybe a high school kid would describe her favorite teacher as a hero because of the way that teacher was able to inspire her students, particularly in difficult situations. Occasionally, someone from the ski patrol or the fire department would rescue someone and earn a hero's praise.
In all cases, the actions of brave, courageous, skillful, or just lucky individuals were likened to the heroic feats of glory attributed to ancient and mythical heroes like Hercules. No one really thought that these modern heroes were demigods. Instead, they were thought of as special people, people naturally a cut above the rest of us who, in a special time and place, had a moment to shine. Our frame of reference for heroes included imaginary heroes in comic books and blockbuster action movies on one extreme, and hero-in-name-only sandwiches on the other. The middle was wide open.
Then 9/11 happened. We all realized that heroes are not special people or talented people or even extraordinary people who willingly accept risk, but ordinary people who, in one fleeting, defining moment, completely forget about themselves and act with out thinking. The man who rationally decides to become a fireman is not a hero. The fireman who goes up 86 flights of stairs into a burning WTC building, knowing it might collapse, in order to possibly save at least one other person--how could that action be anything other than heroic?
Or how about this: "Let's roll!" Courageous people are not immune to fear. In fact, bravery can only exist where fear is overcome. Courageous people feel fear, but they are able to move when most remain frozen.
No one wants to be called a hero unless they feel they did something heroic to earn the title. Did you ever notice how baseball players will have a good year, but after they get the obscenely high contract they crumble? If you're worth $24 million dollars a year, fine. But if someone PAYS you to be worth $24 million, well, that's a different story.
Meanwhile, consider a few examples where pay is obviously not a factor in perceived valor: the cop who works a beat for $50 K a year, or the soldier on his second tour of Iraq or Afghanistan who patrols a village for $38K--plus room and board. The ticker tape parade for the World Series Champions is all in good fun, but there is something off-putting about the glory heaped on a team of baseball players with an average salary of $7 million each. Our returning WWII veterans got a ticker tape parade, too. They were making about $720 per year, plus an extra $2 per month if they had been awarded a Medal of Honor. Consider the returning Vietnam-era vet who made $2,775 per year and came home to protests, and worse. We treat our returning OEF / OIF veterans much better, which is great. Still, where's the love for our urban public school teachers?
There are two recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor whose stories are particularly moving to me. When I think of heroes, I think of two: Army Ranger 1LT Stephen Doane, a distant relative, who gave up his life in Vietnam; and Army Sapper SFC Paul Smith, an engineer in my friend's battalion who died in Baghdad. I have visited these men's graves in Arlington. Their names are both enshrined in the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes. I have a rubbing of 1LT Doane's name inscribed on the Vietnam Memorial wall. When I was in Baghdad, I went to the place where had SFC Smith died four years earlier. I also went to the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the concrete gym that was named in his honor. Why a concrete gym? Well, we built a gym out of concrete after shrapnel sliced through the tent which house the old gym and killed a soldier who was running on a treadmill. I like to think of the gym walls protecting soldiers just as SFC Smith died protecting his troops.
I started this post with the dictionary definition of hero. I will end it with the Medal of Honor citations of two American soldiers who epitomize the word.
SERGEANT FIRST CLASS SMITH, PAUL RAY, United States Army.
"Sergeant First Class Paul R. Smith distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with an armed enemy near Baghdad International Airport, Baghdad, Iraq on 4 April 2003. On that day, Sergeant First Class Smith was engaged in the construction of a prisoner of war holding area when his Task Force was violently attacked by a company-sized enemy force. Realizing the vulnerability of over 100 fellow soldiers, Sergeant First Class Smith quickly organized a hasty defense consisting of two platoons of soldiers, one Bradley Fighting Vehicle and three armored personnel carriers. As the fight developed, Sergeant First Class Smith braved hostile enemy fire to personally engage the enemy with hand grenades and anti-tank weapons, and organized the evacuation of three wounded soldiers from an armored personnel carrier struck by a rocket propelled grenade and a 60 mm mortar round. Fearing the enemy would overrun their defenses, Sergeant First Class Smith moved under withering enemy fire to man a .50 caliber machine gun mounted on a damaged armored personnel carrier. In total disregard for his own life, he maintained his exposed position in order to engage the attacking enemy force. During this action, he was mortally wounded. His courageous actions helped defeat the enemy attack, and resulted in as many as 50 enemy soldiers killed, while allowing the safe withdrawal of numerous wounded soldiers. Sergeant First Class Smith’s extraordinary heroism and uncommon valor are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the Third Infantry Division “Rock of the Marne,” and the United States Army."
FIRST LIEUTENANT DOANE, STEPHEN HOLDEN, United States Army.
"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. First Lt. Doane was serving as a platoon leader when his company, engaged in a tactical operation, abruptly contacted an enemy force concealed in protected bunkers and trenches. Three of the leading soldiers were pinned down by enemy crossfire. One was seriously wounded. After efforts of 1 platoon to rescue these men had failed, it became obvious that only a small group could successfully move close enough to destroy the enemy position and rescue or relieve the trapped soldiers, 1st Lt. Doane, although fully aware of the danger of such an action, crawled to the nearest enemy bunker and silenced it. He was wounded but continued to advance to a second enemy bunker. As he prepared to throw a grenade, he was again wounded. Undaunted, he deliberately pulled the pin on the grenade and lunged with it into the enemy bunker, destroying this final obstacle. 1st Lt. Doane's supreme act enabled his company to rescue the trapped men without further casualties. The extraordinary courage and selflessness displayed by this officer were an inspiration to his men and are in the highest traditions of the U.S. Army."
Honorable.
Esteemed.
Respected.
Others first.
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