Hero of What ?

T

tetvet

Banned
Anyone now serving in the Military is call a hero which is ok but it kind of dilutes the action , in my 6 years in the military I never met a hero did get to know some people that were good to know .:thumb:
 
Thank you for your service, Tetvet. Your generation paved the way for my generation to carry on the watch.
 
tetvet said:
Anyone now serving in the Military is call a hero which is ok but it kind of dilutes the action , in my 6 years in the military I never met a hero did get to know some people that were good to know .:thumb:
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Lets be accurate here Americans tend to turn everything into a flagfest replete with tears and anthem singing, soldiers, firemen, police, doctors, nurses and anyone that has survived the common cold is considered a hero whereas the rest of the world are a little more circumspect about what constitutes a "hero" and for the most part you have to have actually achieved something to receive the title not just signed up for a profession.
 
I would say, that a hero is a person who spontaneously transform compassion into action and as such you will find heroes in many professions.
 
Absolutely agree with the ruination of the concept of "hero."
Some real heroes I have rubbed shoulders with. A couple I knew personally, others in the course of SF events.
Aaron Bank
Ola Mize
Fred Zabitosky
Bob Howard
Roy Benevides
Gordon Yntema
Jon Comini
Roger Donlon
Drew Dix
Many others who didn't get the bling.
I am privileged to have had these contacts.
 
I never latched onto the concept that has been mass media slewed of the modern rendition of what a "hero" is.

I Go more on personal respect held for others who I feel truly deserve it. Vietnam era veterans being among them.

Respect does not need a Bud Light Sponsored Half Time show and a fancy title to be given.

Our founders held it for one another and then none of this mattered and the civilized world was busy proclaiming them terrorists.

No true hero asks to be put in a bad situation that makes them as such, they just perform, many don't live to talk about it. Civilian or military, war or peace.

It's an honor that speaks quietly on it's own.
 
Hero's fought at Caen, Monte Casino, Arnhem, Iwo Jima, Saipan, Tarawa, Khe Sanh, Pusan to name a few, as well in Iraq and in Afghanistan. I hold the definition of a hero to simply be an average man that performs an extraordinary act to help his fellow men at arms. Often they are thy are the poor soul that doesn't make it.
I was never in combat, but rescued a women that under attack one time, certainly don't consider myself a hero.
 
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i don' t know the concept of hero but it brings to mind the british soe agent Didi Nearne.she operated in france before being captured and sent to ravensbruck..i don't need to say more on that.after the war she returned to civi life and when she died in
torquey where she had lived for many years. her friends and neighbours were astonished at her full military funeral...when a man from the home office was asked about this he replyed "well she wasn"t trained to talk"...she didn't see herself as a hero...so i don't know, we can think of people as heros but may be the question should be.do they deserve to be treated differertly than anyone else weho has done thier duty
 
Kesse81 said:
The true heroes that I know, are the ones who never made it home.
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I have a question and it isn't meant in a derogatory way but what is it about dieing that makes you a hero?

Heroism is not necessarily an action that has to involve death and not all who die are hero's.
 
MontyB said:
I have a question and it isn't meant in a derogatory way but what is it about dieing that makes you a hero?
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Because these guys that I knew had nothing to gain and everything to lose.
I don´t expect you to understand, but had you been there you probably would.

MontyB said:
Heroism is not necessarily an action that has to involve death and not all who die are hero's.
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I agree.
To me a hero is a person who spontaneously transform compassion into action and as such you will find heroes in many professions. It´s my personal interpretation and ultimately, there´s probably no concrete definition of a hero. It´s up to each individual to define.
 
Kesse81 said:
Because these guys that I knew had nothing to gain and everything to lose.
I don´t expect you to understand, but had you been there you probably would.

I agree.
To me a hero is a person who spontaneously transform compassion into action and as such you will find heroes in many professions. It´s my personal interpretation and ultimately, there´s probably no concrete definition of a hero. It´s up to each individual to define.
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Hehe I would really like to discuss this further but I am loathe to do so as I can not figure out how to do so without it coming across badly and that really isn't my intention so I will leave it there and say that I am not entirely certain I agree.
 
MontyB said:
Hehe I would really like to discuss this further but I am loathe to do so as I can not figure out how to do so without it coming across badly and that really isn't my intention so I will leave it there and say that I am not entirely certain I agree.
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So what is a hero then?

In my experience, most heroes in Kesse and I's profession don't make it back because somehow, someway, they always find themselves in the thick of it at the very crucial point where they are needed most. They keep going back over and over...regardless of whether or not their peers, the ones that all have mutual respect for them and ackowledge that not more is required of them, yet they keep going.

It might be a small thing to some people...but not to me.
 
brinktk said:
So what is a hero then?

In my experience, most heroes in Kesse and I's profession don't make it back because somehow, someway, they always find themselves in the thick of it at the very crucial point where they are needed most. They keep going back over and over...regardless of whether or not their peers, the ones that all have mutual respect for them and ackowledge that not more is required of them, yet they keep going.

It might be a small thing to some people...but not to me.
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Part of the problem here is that I feel this is an argument that will become more emotive than open minded which is what I am trying to avoid but I tend to think people especially in a military context confuse bravery with heroism, they are two different things.
Lets try a fireman analogy to break away from the military theme, a fireman putting out a fire knowing that the building may collapse is brave but not heroic, a fireman going in to a building knowing he has little chance of survival is heroic so from a military theme a soldier dieing in a fire fight may be brave but not necessarily heroic.
 
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MontyB said:
Part of the problem here is that I feel this is an argument that will become more emotive than open minded which is what I am trying to avoid but I tend to think people especially in a military context confuse bravery with heroism, they are two different things.
Lets try a fireman analogy to break away from the military theme, a fireman putting out a fire knowing that the building may collapse is brave but not heroic, a fireman going in to a building knowing he has little chance of survival is heroic so from a military theme a soldier dieing in a fire fight may be brave but not necessarily heroic.
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I understand your argument.
Our terminology is probably a little different when one finds oneself in a chaos almost daily.
Some of these guys put their lives on the line, some deliberately others unknowingly, without being ordered to do so to save their mates from a dangerous situation.
 
MontyB said:
Part of the problem here is that I feel this is an argument that will become more emotive than open minded which is what I am trying to avoid but I tend to think people especially in a military context confuse bravery with heroism, they are two different things.
Lets try a fireman analogy to break away from the military theme, a fireman putting out a fire knowing that the building may collapse is brave but not heroic, a fireman going in to a building knowing he has little chance of survival is heroic so from a military theme a soldier dieing in a fire fight may be brave but not necessarily heroic.
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There is a distinction between your fireman analogy and a soldier in a firefight though. To a soldier, being in a firefight IS the building collapsing. Just because one is used to being in a firefight doesn't make it any less dangerous.

There certainly is a distinction between heroism and bravery and I understand that completely. That is why I tend to believe that most the heroes don't make it back. Consistent bravery every single day is heroic...but it is also patently hazardous to ones health...
 
I have seen guys die without ever knowing they were in danger.
Hardest part was the suffering many endured-nothing like any movie.
 
I have met and served with a number of men I would class as heroes.....If you take fireman into account as they might be in danger every time they attend a fire, then yes they are but so are many other public servants, and so are many other jobs, like miners construction workers. Still in these jobs there is only an odd chance of getting killed, but in a war you put your life on the line all time and often you are called serve in the military and do have a choice. Yet every one else does have that choice
 
Flying bodies in from the bush sometimes I would think I know but his parents don't yet know their son is dead and won't know until Graves Registration notifies them .
 
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