HEROES

What makes a hero? Is it the job? Is it a deed we have performed? Some may say that the simple act of having a particular career is reason enough to brand someone a hero. But I beg to differ. Let’s use a firefighter for example, let’s call him Dude.

What if a Dude goes through his entire career fighting house, trash, business, brush fires, but never saves anyone from a burning building. Let’s just say that all the fires Dude put out were in empty buildings and that’s why he never had the opportunity to save anyone. It’s not really his fault, that’s just the way dice roll sometimes. Is Dude a hero because he can rush to a burning building and douse water on it? Not really. Once the fire starts it has already done the damage. Someone is going to be without a home, whether long term or short term; an insurance company will be writing a check, memories will be lost, precious mementos gone forever. Many times the water used to put out the fire causes more damage than the fire did. I’m not knocking Dude’s actions, he needed to do what he could to put out the fire; I’m just stating a fact.

I have put out fires with a fire extinguisher; does that make me a hero just because I can put out fire? Not really. Nor does it make Dude a hero. Let’s say that Dude arrived to a burning building and learned there was a small child trapped inside, so he ran into the inferno and saved the child. Would that make him a hero? Oh yes, most definitely. Dude would likely be awarded a medal of honor or the key to the city or some other trinket. But what if you learned that the fire chief earlier in the day had sent another crew of fire fighters to the building and had them set it ablaze? Would that make Dude any less of a hero? It would all depend if he was privy to the information. What if the fire chief hired only those people who would follow his orders and never question his command? Would Dude’s complicity negate his hero status? Of course it would!

If I had my brother kidnap a child, tie him up and hide him in his garage, then stage a rescue of the child, would that make me a hero? If you said “yes” and mean it, stop reading and go back to your TV.

Do people deserve respect and hero worship just because of their uniform or title? Do all police officers automatically deserve respect just because they don a badge and bear a gun? What about the cops who beat Rodney King (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodney_King)? What about the BART cop who shot unarmed Oscar Grant in the back (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZTbJH6BNaU)? Watch this video and tell me that these cops should be honored just because they where a uniform: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2YodfOWeuI&feature=player_embedded. In all honesty, I do not respect police or any other government thug or bureaucrat. I don’t care what they wear or where they work. I have personally witnessed plenty of things for me to develop a disdain for them. This is not meant to bash or slander anyone, it is only meant to present some truth and cause thought.

“Soldiers are not heroes” is a new site on Facebook which has caused quite an uproar. Many people have begun sites requesting that Facebook ban them. But why? Personally I wouldn’t care if the KKK or the Black Panthers had their own Facebook site. It’s none of my damn business. If I don’t like what a site touts, I won’t visit it, I won’t be a fan, I won’t request to be a friend, etc. But the site does beg the question: Are soldiers heroes?

Are soldiers heroes just because they wear fatigues? Carry an M-16? Drink from a canteen? Kill people? Destroy property? What makes them a hero? Does volunteering your life and freewill to the ravings of a megalomaniac make you a hero? Many well meaning, good-hearted, yet ignorant folks will claim that soldiers defend our freedom and that’s why we should call them heroes, but I’ve already proven this to be false in a previous blog: http://matthewevans1968.blogspot.com/2008/09/are-soldiers-defending-our-aldulterated.html. Can soldiers be heroes? Sure, the same as anyone can. If they perform something truly heroic, they can be called a hero. But, what if they perform something heroic yet they themselves or their compatriots created the dangerous situation to begin with? Are they still a hero? If the Air Force bombards a village and the Army moves in afterwards and retrieves a small boy from the rubble, are they acting heroically? The boy wouldn’t have needed saving if it weren’t for the military bombs.

The true heroic soldiers are those who have returned from war and gone through great pains to tell everyone the truth. Those who thumb their noses at the high command and tell the civilians about the atrocities they witnessed and even committed themselves. Soldiers like Christopher Gaddy (http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig9/gaddy-c1.html), and Iraq Soldiers Against The War (www.ivaw.org).

I don’t mean to offend anyone, but I refuse to give honor and praise to someone just because of their clothing, job or how well they take orders; they need to earn it just like I do. Just because I am a father doesn’t mean my children should automatically honor me and make me their hero. Any Bozo with a working sex organ can be a father. I hope I have given my children reasons to honor me and I hope I have earned their respect. Of course I can boss them around and order them do as I want—but that’s no way to become a hero.