I finished reading Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell. He was the only Navy SEAL to make it out of that terrible firefight in Afghanistan which ended up killing his three other teammates and 12 other special ops troops when their helicopter was hit by a RPG (Rocket Propelled Grenade). He states that his teammates died like heros, which I believe that they did given that they were attacked by a group of over 159 Taliban and even after each of them was shot multiple times (one guy had a fatal head wound) they kept falling back and continued taking the fight to this group of Taliban. When it comes to war that is truly heroic action because at that point it wasn't so much about winning, it was giving their lives to save each other. To me that's what heroes do.
I've had people come up to me and shake my hand at restaurants and tell me they are proud of me and will pray for me. I've had people anonymously buy my meal as well. Although I am uncomfortable with that I accept it as they are being grateful for my sacrifices and those of my family. But to be called a hero by entertainers and politicians because I serve is ridiculous. To date I have only met one true hero.
It was a guy who worked at the lodging facility on Kelly AFB where I used to work. His name was Ken. He was a retired Chief Master Seargant in the US Air Force. He worked as a clerk there and one night he decided to pressure wash the outside of the building while a group of us "combat veterans" were enjoying a beer after a successful trip. One of my friends asked the manager to tell him to knock it off as we were sitting in the courtyard listening to the din of his pressure washer as we knocked back a couple of refreshing brews. Hell we earned them didn't we? We flew a 26 hour day to get back. We had overcome adversity in dealing with weather, maintenance issues, support activities giving us the runaround. Hell we'd even wore body armor and strapped on a frickin' pistol to get in and out of that combat zone.
The manager told us that Ken was actually off the clock and doing that of his own free will on his own time. We were completely incredulous as to why anyone would work for the "man" off the clock. The manager then told us that Ken never took a day off and that he never complained about anything. You see he'd been a marine in Korea and later Vietnam. During Korea he was a member of the Chosin Frozen (a group of Marines who fought the battle for Chosin reservoir in the bitter cold). I still shudder when I think of those pictures of hundreds of dead Marines frozen in their death throes from extreme cold. It turns out he was captured and spent a year in a North Korean prisoner of war camp. Holy Shit!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When he was repatriated he came back and did his thing. When the Vietnam war came he could have stayed home, but he served two tours because he couldn't let those young Marines go over there alone without adult supervision. He moved over to the Air Force after that and had a nice long career in relative safety. He retired with a Purple Heart with two oak leaf clusters (meaning he was wounded three times) and had earned the Silver Star and two Bronze Stars. Man I get misty eyed thinkin' about him. He is an honest and true American hero.
Not because of his decorations, but because of the actions he took to earn them. But most of all he is a hero because of why he committed those acts: SELFLESSNESS! He was willing to do whatever it took to make sure his buddies made it. And when he came home he didn't talk about it. He didn't brag about it. When he came over for a beer and we asked tons of questions he answered them matter of factly and when we started hero worshipping him he got real uncomfortable. He said the same thing every true hero says, "I am no hero. The heroes are the men I left behind on the battlefield that I couldn't save!"
My wife really looks up to me and is proud of my service. It's sometimes uncomfortable because I don't do anything special. Whenever we have talks about the subject of heroism I tell her that I'm worried that I'll be a coward if my day of reckoning comes. I'm afraid I won't have the courage to finish the fight and go down a warrior instead of crapping in my pants. She always tells me, with such conviction, that she believes I will be brave and do whatever it takes because she knows the kind of man I am. I hope to God she's right or I won't be able to live with myself if I make it out of that crucible.
I wrote all of this because we have a culture in America that hero worships and I believe we have cheapened its meaning. We throw the word around like candy on Halloween. Is the guy who notified police of the smoking van in Times Square a hero? I don't think so. He did a great thing. He may have saved several lives, but he in no way put his on the line. Firefighters rushing up the World Trade Center while people rushed down: Heroic. A mother getting between a cougar and her son: Heroic. A friend walking for days through a blizzard ignoring his own pain to save a friend and then refusing medical attention until he is reunited with his friend: Heroic. I personally believe that the CNN heroes are as well. They often give up everything to do what they do. Many of them are at personal risk, but they do it out of selflessness and a sense that it is the right thing to do.
Next time someone throws around the word HERO think about the situation. Would you call that person a hero?
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