Hero Society

A friend of mine recently posted on Facebook that she was upset seeing all the news press given to Charlie Sheen and none being given to the soldiers who have died recently.  Unfortunately, it’s true that our press would rather make heroes out of movie stars, sports stars, and music stars than to report on our military people fighting daily.  Wikipedia describes a hero as someone “who, in the face of danger and adversity or from a position of weakness, display courage and the will for self sacrifice—that is, heroism—for some greater good of all humanity.”

Since Charlie Sheen is in the news, let’s use our definition above and see if he is a hero, I know to some he is since he’s a movie star and “fighting” a drug habit.  Charlie Sheen once played a cowboy who was shot and killed while walking up to a toilet....okay, doesn’t really meet the qualifications.  Let’s see here “in the face of danger and adversity or from a position of weakness, displays courage and the will for self sacrifice for some greater good of all humanity”...hmmm, he takes drugs, has his kids being removed, goes to jail and has some terrible mug shots floating around.  Well, he fails, and by definition, he’s not a hero.

Some people love sports stars and music stars and consider them heroes.  Okay, let’s look at the entire Dallas Cowboy football team.  A lot of people enjoy watching football, but do they qualify as heroes?  Well, they throw a ball around, hit each other, dance when they get a touchdown and have huge salaries.  Music stars on the other do much the same, at least the dancing part, and they sing.  Once again, by definition, neither football teams or music stars are heroes.

Now, just for the heck of seeing what a hero really is, let’s take one of the people my friend posted about.   Rudolph Hizon was 21 years old when he died in Afghanistan.  He is hailed by people who knew him as  “good with children,” “a warrior,” and “someone I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”  He was awarded “Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghan Campaign Medal with star device, Global War on Terror Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, NATO Medal and Combat Infantryman Badge” for his service.  This young man went and died for the United States of America.  He died to promote freedom from a war that resulted when were were attacked on September 11 (remember that day?) (http://projects.latimes.com/wardead/name/rudolph-r-hizon/).  Based on our criteria from Wikipedia, we find that Rudolph was someone “who, in the face of danger and adversity or from a position of weakness, display courage and the will for self sacrifice—that is, heroism—for some greater good of all humanity.”  Ironically, Rudolph told one of his friends that he did not think he would come back from Afghanistan (remember that self-sacrifice thing?). 

So, the next time you watch your favorite movie star, your favorite musician, or even your favorite sports team, remember they are not HEROES.  Heroes are men and women like Rudolph Hizon.  Then, when you sit next to someone that says, “Charlie Sheen is my hero,” point to the American flag and say, “See that red on that strip right there?  That’s the blood of men and women like Rudolph Hizon and he’s my hero.”